Fray
by KelliSammy
Summary: Her story is over. The young girl has become one of the most powerful Slayers in 200 years, chosen to fight the First once again with its army of demonic creatures. Follow Fray on her journey from girl to woman and from woman to legend. 22 chapters up.
1. New Sunnydale

FRAY Summary: Something is going on in the word. The newly activated slayers are behind hunted and killed and it's up to the Slayer's Coven to find out who's doing it. A lost girl makes her way to Sunnydale with no memory. Is this girl the key or the killer? Spoilers: All seasons  
  
Episode 1: New Sunnydale  
  
New York City, New York Amanda Sollen worked quickly inside the deserted dojo. Music was blaring from a nearby radio and the punching bag hanging from the ceiling moved with the rhythm of the sound. Sweat was running down her face and into the gray t-shirt she was wearing. With the volume of the music and the sound of her movements she never heard the door to the dojo open.  
  
Amanda pulled back he hand, her fist clenched tightly, ready to punch. Suddenly an impossibly strong hand grabbed her elbow, crushing the bone in the process. Amanda fell to the ground with a scream. When she opened her eyes she saw a scarred face leaning over her. The face smiled and pulled a knife out of the folds of his blood red robe. The knife entered the girl's stomach and was ripped up to her neck. The face smiled again before leaving the dojo and the body. No one would know he had been there. No one but Her.  
  
New Sunnydale, California Willow Rosenberg let out a harsh cry and dropped to one knee. Kennedy and Xander rushed over to her, both reaching her at the same time. "They're dying," Willow gasped, tears falling from her eyes. "They're being killed. There's so much pain."  
  
Kennedy wiped the young woman's face with a damp cloth before helping her over to a chair. Faith walked into the living room of the apartment in the newly built Sunnydale, happily dubbed New Sunnydale. It was almost identical to the old one minus the Hellmouth, and plus a huge crater four miles south where the old Sunnydale had been. Faith crossed her arms and leaned up against one wall. "New York this time," she said. "We just got word from a contact."  
  
Willow looked at the slayer. "Who needs a contact when you've got your own slayer tracker right here?"  
  
Faith smiled. "Thanks for the help Will. You can tell me when and I appreciate that but you can't tell me where."  
  
Willow smiled and leaned her head against the back of the chair. "Fair enough."  
  
Xander got up from Willow's side and walked over to Faith, pulling her out of the living room and into the kitchen. "What in the hell's going on?" he hissed. "That's ten in the past week, twenty-five in the past month and they're getting closer together. One in Tokyo and one in Miami four hours apart. That's impossible."  
  
"Did you just forget the past seven years?" Faith asked taking a seat at the bar.  
  
Xander hit the fridge with a flat palm. "I know but this is the first big thing that's happened since Buffy left. I'm worried."  
  
Faith nodded. "Giles called and said that the Watchers were looking into it and the Coven has collected fifteen slayers in the past week. For right now the only way we can stay safe is to stay together."  
  
Xander sat down at the small table that was situated in one corner of the room. "I might feel better if we still had the Scythe. I wish Buffy hadn't hidden it."  
  
"What she did was right. With it just lying around it could have been taken by anyone. She knows that if we ever need it again, we'll find it."  
  
Xander let his head hit the table with a solid thunk. "Come on, let's go visit the girls. Kennedy has Willow taken care of," Faith suggested.  
  
Xander picked up his head and nodded. Faith walked back into the living room and let the two girls know what their plans were. She popped her head back into the kitchen a few seconds later. "Come on Xander. Let's go."  
  
Xander got up, grabbed his coat off the back of the chair, and followed Faith out of the building.  
  
New Sunnydale had been built in six months with financial help from multiple government loans and other business groups. There were still multiple construction projects taking place. The school was adding a library and a gym and another three apartments were being built. A big sign on a nearby warehouse said, "the BRONZE 2, coming soon."  
  
They drove out of the center of the city and into the warehouse and industrial district. Most of the buildings looked worn down and quickly constructed but one silver colored building stood out. It was clean, well made and the roof was in one piece. There was a large stylized B on one wall cut diagonally by a scythe. Beneath the picture it said, The Coven, in red letters. They had reached the slayers.  
  
The inside of the large warehouse had been morphed into a place to house boxes to a place to house people. Xander had restarted his construction business and his team had turned the warehouse into a two-story building. After the slayers had been activated during the destruction of The First, Buffy had begun looking for all the ones that had been activated. Without the proper training and control they would be dangerous. Four months ago though, Faith had made Buffy leave, get out of New Sunnydale and take a break. She had done to England with Giles and was now living just outside of London. She was still helping the slayers but in more of a watcher kind of way.  
  
Now all the slayers stayed in the warehouse unless, like Kennedy, they had other places to live. Xander opened the door and smiled at the chaos within. They would be safe here. The girls wouldn't let anything happen.  
  
The hundred or so girls that made the warehouse a home ranged in age from fourteen to twenty-five and came from almost every country. A large mix of accents and languages assaulted Xander's ears as he walked inside. One corner of the bottom floor had been converted into a library for Dawn and Andrew, the newly appointed Coven watchers. There were three tables, some chairs and a sofa but mostly there were books. Many out of Giles's personal collection. Some were still in large cardboard boxes due to lack of space.  
  
The rest of the lower floor was a giant gym with a thick mat in the center of the room for sparing, large cabinets full of weapons and rows of punching bags. There were also treadmills and weight machines. A spiral staircase led upstairs to the living quarters. A large open area served as barracks with three rows of standard issue army cots and heavy trunks at the end of each bed. A door on one wall led to the bathrooms and showers, another led to the kitchen and living room.  
  
Dawn was sitting at one of the library tables when she saw Xander. She waved him over and hugged him when he got there. She just waved to Faith. "Andrew went out to the grocery for a few minutes. He'll be back soon."  
  
"There's been another one," Faith said softly.  
  
The slayers were already worried. There was no reason to make them scared. Dawn shook her head and sat back down at the table. "Most demons can sense Vampire Slayers because they're more powerful than normal people. I've also been looking for creatures with claws, attached blades, anything that will account for their being gutted."  
  
"How's it going?" Xander asked.  
  
"So far I've narrowed it down to 3,483 different definite and 378 possible. I need some other characteristic to narrow it down a little more."  
  
Xander sighed and sat down in a chair next to Dawn. Faith sat down across from them. "Send five more teams out to collect slayers and bring them here. Eventually we might be able to set a trap for this thing."  
  
"I'll get the teams together," Xander said. "I don't have anything else to do."  
  
Faith nodded and waved him away. "Give me some books and let's start reading."  
  
Dawn nodded and handed Faith a dusty leather-bound volume. Faith took a deep breath and opened the book.  
  
Kennedy handed Willow a large mug of hot chocolate and sat down on the sofa next to her. "What does it feel like?" Kennedy asked, her voice quiet. "When they die?"  
  
Willow took a drink and leaned up against Kennedy. "It feels empty. A sharp flash of pain and then nothing. It's like a part of me is missing. It hurts so badly."  
  
Another tear fell down Willow's face and Kennedy wiped it away with a finger. "We'll find out who's doing this. I promise."  
  
Willow smiled and snuggled closer to the warm body of the woman sitting behind her. Kennedy wrapped her arms around Willow's waist. "How long do you think this will take? This is killing me."  
  
Kennedy unwrapped her arms and turned away. "Don't talk like that," she said.  
  
Willow looked up at her. "I'm sorry but I have to tell you the truth. I've never been able to lie to you. I don't know why I can't sense this thing. I'm a goddess and I can't do a damn thing about it."  
  
Kennedy replaced her arms around Willow's waist and hugged her tightly. "I think this creature might know that. With you in so much pain you can't do much with magick."  
  
Willow nodded. "You're right. I've got too much else on my mind. I have to try though."  
  
"Do you need my strength?" Kennedy asked.  
  
Her voice was shaky, the first time Willow had heard it that way and she knew that Kennedy had just offered her everything. They had never really talked about that day so long ago when a spell gone bad had taken Kennedy's powers and her strength. Willow knew that that had hurt her and what she was offering now was amazing. Willow shook her head. "You already give me strength. I might be able to block the pain long enough to perform a locator spell but for now I don't have the strength to do either."  
  
Kennedy took Willow's mug and set it on the table. "Come on," Kennedy said pushing Willow off the sofa. "Let's go to bed."  
  
"But it's one in the afternoon," Willow started to protest.  
  
Kennedy turned and smiled lightly. "I never said we had to sleep."  
  
Willow smiled and allowed herself to be pulled into the bedroom.  
  
Faith turned another page of the third giant book she had looked through in the past two hours. Dawn and Andrew were sitting across from her and Xander was on her left. They were coming up on three hours of work with no finds and were getting impatient. Faith turned another page and stopped. The page was covered in runes; unreadable to her but the rest of the book had been in English. "Hey Dawn," Faith said, turning the book towards the young woman. "Can you read this?"  
  
Dawn glanced at the page and Andrew leaned in to get a look. "It's an African script," Dawn said. "I've seen things like this before but never this. I'll scan it and send it to Buffy. She can give a copy to Giles."  
  
Dawn took the book and Faith leaned back in her chair. "I say we wait until we get the results of the cyber exchange before we keep going."  
  
Xander closed his book and leaned back. "Good idea. My only working eye is threatening to go on strike."  
  
Andrew nodded. "We're not getting anywhere right now anyway."  
  
A few seconds later Dawn came back and sank down in her chair. "Buffy got the mail and she's taking it to Giles now. All we can do is wait."  
  
Faith stood up and stretched. "If you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to wait at home. It doesn't look like there's anything here that needs my attention."  
  
Dawn nodded. "I think we're doing fine for right now. Bring Kennedy tomorrow so we can start teaching some of the new slayers."  
  
Faith and Xander packed up a few books to study at home and left the warehouse. Xander let Faith out in front of the small brick house that she shared with Robin Wood, the principal of the New Sunnydale High School. "I'll give you a call if I hear anything from Dawn," Xander said as Faith got out of the car.  
  
"Alright, and I'll keep doing some research. I'll thrust a few books on Robin when he gets home."  
  
Faith waved as Xander drove off. The young man was making his way to Willow's apartment but changed his mind halfway there. She was probably resting anyway. Xander drove to his apartment that was in the same area as Willow's. The apartments looked more like three story houses but each floor belonged to a different family. Xander's was on the top floor and he took the stairs quickly. He didn't want to waist time.  
  
The rooms were dark but Xander easily navigated the dark rooms until he got to the kitchen. Xander turned on the light and dumped a small pile of books on the table. He pulled the phone over closer and started sorting through the pages.  
  
Xander hadn't been reading for more than five hours when the phone rang. Xander lunged for it, knocking a book of the table. "Hello," Xander said almost before he got the phone to his ear.  
  
"Xander, it's Dawn. I've got some information. Giles got back to us fast and after reading this stuff I can understand why. Call everyone else and get here soon."  
  
Xander said goodbye quickly before handing up the phone, picking it up again and starting to dial Willow's number.  
  
Half and hour later Xander pulled up to the Coven warehouse. Faith and Wood pulled up behind them. Willow and Kennedy had ridden with Xander and the group threw open the door to the warehouse and hurried inside. Most of the slayers were upstairs, the smells of dinner finding their way down the stairs. Dawn waved the group over while Andrew stood back, his face a strange shade of green. Xander fell into a chair and put his head in his hands. "Why do I have a feeling that this is bad news?"  
  
Dawn smiled. "It's both good and bad."  
  
Andrew pulled out a few folders and passed them out. "Giles translated the script and sent us all the information he had on it."  
  
Xander opened the folder as Andrew handed it to him. A twisted drawing of a massive man with a scarred face and a giant diamond on his chest lay on top of a small stack of papers. "He looks like someone you'd want to take home to mom," Faith said.  
  
Dawn opened her own folder. "He'd only pay attention to her if she was a slayer. This guy is the Shalakan Osau, the slayer killer. He's the First's last ditch effort at taking out the slayer line. As soon as the First was killed this thing woke up and started killing slayers. He's taking out the single slayers first, the ones that are stronger than many but still."  
  
Dawn trailed off and Willow let out a deep breath. "How do we get it here?"  
  
Kennedy glanced at her. "But Willow."  
  
Willow cut her short with a hand. Dawn flipped a page in her folder and handed the paper to Willow. "There is a spell we can cast to call him here. We block the power of the other slayers and simulate the power of a single active one. That should bring him here," Dawn said.  
  
"But if our power is blocked how will we fight?" Kennedy asked, her forehead creased with worry.  
  
"It's a temporary spell. It will only work until I stop it. Like an automatic weapon. It only fires when my finger's on the trigger," Willow said, her eyes still glued on the papers.  
  
"I really don't like that analogy," Kennedy said.  
  
Dawn handed Kennedy her folder. "Look in there. Giles assured us that the spell is safe."  
  
Willow leaned over Kennedy's shoulder and read the papers. "I can't do much of anything right now. Every time one of the slayer's dies it takes my strength. I'll have to perform a blocking spell before I can do anything else."  
  
Dawn nodded. "What do you need to perform the spells?"  
  
"A few simple ingredients and a few hours of sleep."  
  
Andrew gave Willow a pen. "Give me a list of ingredients that you need and I'll get them. Kennedy can take you home and we'll call you in about four hours."  
  
Willow nodded as Kennedy and Xander got up to take her home. "I'll be ready when you are, See you soon."  
  
The sky was dark gray when the row of cars pulled into the school parking lot. Robin had offered them the place since no one would be there after midnight. Kennedy was there, Xander, Faith, Dawn, Andrew, Robin and Willow too. Faith, Dawn, and Kennedy carried stakes and Andrew and Xander had swords. Robin carried a crossbow and Willow had a pouch at her waits with a magikal concoction of her own. They looked ready for war and in many ways they were.  
  
Willow started spreading out supplies, some for the blocking spell, some for the summoning of the slayer killer. Willow let out a deep breath and spread a few sprigs of jasmine around a circle of candles. Kennedy walked over and put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "You'll do just fine and we're all behind you."  
  
Willow hugged Kennedy and the young slayer walked back to where the group was standing. Willow lit the candles and knelt beside the circle. She drew out a small amount of powder from the pouch at her waist and threw it over the candles. The power sparkled in the air before flaming up when it touched the candles. Willow looked up, her eyes shining in the candle light. "The world around me is harsh and dry, protect me, save me and make me fly."  
  
The candles flamed again and willow shook her head. "That one worked. Let's try the other."  
  
Willow spread some more of her powder and closed her eyes. "Shalakan Osau, hear my cry, come take the path, find where I lie. The center of power, all other gone, you'll find me here before the dawn. The blood, the pain, the path you wake. If you find me here once more you'll WAKE!" This last word was screamed as a bolt of blue light shot through Willow's chest.  
  
Willow heard Kennedy scream but it seemed to be in a different world. Finally the light faded and Willow slumped over. Kennedy ran forward and wrapped Willow in her arms. "Will," she cried.  
  
Willow pushed herself up and looked at Kennedy with pale blue eyes, another trait of her new goddess status. "He's here. He can travel through space. Pretty cool if you ask me."  
  
"Where is he?" Faith asked.  
  
"By the BRONZE 2. There is so much power coming from there."  
  
Kennedy gave Willow to Xander and Andrew and took off running after Faith. Even without their power the slayers' could get there quickly and the others would follow closely. Kennedy and Faith got to the Bronze quickly and Kennedy felt her power return when Willow stopped the spell.  
  
Kennedy stopped just behind Faith and looked at the shadowy figure standing in the middle of the street. The figure let out a roar of fury and spun towards them. Kennedy and Faith took a step back as his face came into view.  
  
He had once been human but now his face was crossed with scars and burns. His pale red eyes shone in the dark and his short brown hair showed streaks of gray. He was wearing a black coat and black pants but his jacket exposed a chest taunt with muscle and a thick diamond shaped scar ran from his neck to his belt and across his chest. "Slayers," he said, his voice deep, "fun."  
  
Faith tightened her grip on the stake. "Monsters," she said, "dead."  
  
The creature smiled and lunged forward. Kennedy and Faith rushed him, Faith jumping up and connecting with the creature's shoulder. It was like she had hit a brick wall. Faith rolled to the ground and jumped up, ready for another attack. Kennedy countered a punch from the monster and hit him in the side with a hard kick. The creature wasn't even phased.  
  
Faith heard the squeal of tires behind them as the car drove up holding the others. "Hit him in the diamond. It's his weak spot," Dawn yelled, jumping out of the car and hitting the pavement at a dead run.  
  
Kennedy hissed as she hit the ground. "That would have been nice to know. How about some help Wood. Shoot the son of a bitch."  
  
Wood stepped forward and aimed at the massive target. Xander passed Faith his sword and Robin let the arrow fly. It found its target and the creature let out a massive howl of pain. Kennedy pushed herself off the ground and, with a sidekick, drove the arrow deeper into his chest. Faith ran over and slammed the sword into the creature's chest. He howled again and let out a final gurgling scream before he fell to the ground and melted into the pavement.  
  
Faith pulled her sword out of the melted glob. "Yuck!" she said. "Why do they always have to do that?"  
  
Kennedy walked over to Willow. "At least it's over."  
  
Willow shook her head and put her arm over Kennedy's shoulders. "I can still feel this massive power. It should be gone."  
  
"Maybe he wasn't the killed," Xander supplied, voicing all their fears.  
  
There was a sudden crash from beside the Bronze and a garbage can rolled out of the alleyway. "Damn," Faith yelled, her sword poised at the ready.  
  
A slight shape came tumbling out of the alley and the figure of a small blonde girl fell onto the pavement. She wore blue shorts and a white t- shirt. Faith ran over to her and flipped her on her back. Blood was running out of her nose and she looked up at Faith with an empty stare. "Who are you?" Faith asked.  
  
The girl looked at her with a blank look on her face. "I don't know," she whispered, and suddenly she fainted. 


	2. Who? What? Where?

Episode 2: Who? What? Where?  
  
Xander walked over to the young girl lying in the street. "What happened?" he asked, kneeling next to Faith.  
  
"I don't know," the slayer said. "I asked her who she was and she said that she didn't know and then she passed out."  
  
Willow walked over to the girl and knelt beside her. "She's been through a lot but it's all jumbled. If she told you she didn't know who she was I think she was telling the truth. She must be an activated slayer. Maybe he brought her with him when he came here."  
  
Faith put her sword to the girl's neck. "I don't know Willow. It's awfully weird to me. I mean after what we've seen, if this girl was marked by that slayer killer than how is she still alive?"  
  
Willow shook her head. "I don't know but I also don't care. We're taking her to my apartment and we'll take care of her. Maybe when she wakes up she can tell us about what's going on."  
  
Kennedy leaned over Willow's shoulder. "From far away she looks like a kid but she must be at least sixteen. That's the right age for a slayer."  
  
Willow called Wood over and told him to put her in Xander's car. "Sorry if we get blood on the seats," Willow said as they started walking back to the car.  
  
Xander smiled. "That's alright, I'm sure I've had worse on those old seats in years past. We do need to get her home though."  
  
Andrew looked into the car. "With her in there there's not enough room for us all."  
  
Faith handed Andrew her sword. "Kennedy and I will go back to the parking lot and get the cars. Xander can take Willow and this girl home and then one of us will drop off Kennedy on the way home."  
  
Kennedy nodded, gave Willow a final hug, and started running after Faith. Willow got in the car beside Xander and turned around to look back at the girl. The t-shirt and shorts she was wearing exposed small white scars on her arms and legs. Willow hoped that she wasn't one of the bad guys. Even in this state the girl looked tough. Xander drove quickly through the streets of New Sunnydale and they quickly pulled up to the door of Willow's house. Xander pulled the girl out of the car and carried her upstairs.  
  
Willow turned on the lights and put her bag of supplies on the kitchen table. "I'll go get the first aid kit and you can put her in Kennedy's room."  
  
"Yeah," Xander said, walking towards the door. "It's not like she ever sleeps there."  
  
Willow flashed him a smile before disappearing into the bathroom. Xander laid the girl down on the bed and noticed that the front of his shirt was covered in blood, and it wasn't coming from her nose. He carefully turned her on her side and saw a pattern of cuts in her shirt and her skin. There was a slight sparkle as something caught the light of the lamp and Xander pulled it out. He held the shard of glass in his hand and shook his head. The girl had fallen on a glass bottle and she had torn herself to pieces when she had.  
  
Xander pulled out a few more pieces before Willow came back into the room carrying a white plastic box. "It's a good thing we're prepared for this," Xander said. "She fell on a bottle in the alleyway and ripped her side to shreds."  
  
Willow looked at Xander. "I could heal her with magick and she'd wake up tomorrow morning never knowing what happened."  
  
Xander shook his head, knowing where her hesitation was coming from. "It will be good to have her in a weakened condition, especially if she's one of the bad guys. She should heal fine anyway and if she is on our side then you can heal her after we find out."  
  
Willow agreed quickly and the two friends set to work on the girl. Willow cut her shirt off her body and peeled it carefully away from her wound while Xander pulled out the remaining glass with a pair of tweezers. "Damn," he hissed as he dumped a handful of glass shard onto the bedside table.  
  
Willow waited until he was done before cleaning the wound and wrapping it with strips of thick, clean gauze. She then checked the girl for any other wounds and washed the blood off of her face and neck with a wet cloth. Kennedy came in just as Willow was cleaning up the medical supplies. "How is she?" Kennedy asked.  
  
Willow looked at the woman and shook her head. "She lost a lot of blood but we blocked the only wound we could find. Someone should stay here with her in case she wakes up."  
  
Xander sat down in an armchair by the bed. "I'll take the first watch. You've both had a busy night. Get some rest."  
  
Kennedy watched Willow walk by and take the medical kit back into the bathroom. "I'll come and relieve you in six hours but I'd like to switch between us until she wakes up. Willow's having a hard time sleeping."  
  
Xander shook his head. "If you move you'll wake her up. Make it twelve hours. I can stay up as long as I can make coffee."  
  
Kennedy smiled. "The kitchen's all yours. I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Xander picked a paperback mystery off the bedside table and smiled at her. "Don't worry; I'll amuse myself with cheep and poorly written paperback mysteries where it's always the butler that does it."  
  
Kennedy laughed. "You're in for a surprise, it wasn't the butler."  
  
Xander opened the book and Kennedy shut the door behind her as she walked out of the room. He was in for a long night but Xander was up for the challenge.  
  
Xander took anther drink of coffee. His fifth cup in the last two hours by his count. He had to choke it down but he also had to stay awake. It hadn't mattered that he hadn't done anything during the fight. His adrenaline had been running and now it was gone and his body felt like it had shut down. He opened the book again and started reading but the words blurred on the pages and he shut it again. He reached up to rub his eyes and felt the familiar black cloth patch over the empty socket that had once held his left eye. Xander shuddered and brought his hand back down.  
  
That wasn't a time that he liked to remember but he found his thoughts drifting back to that time seven months ago when he had been so sure that he was going to die. And some of his friends had. Anya was lying somewhere in the deep crater that had been Sunnydale along with the bodies of at least a dozen potential slayers. Xander shut his good eye for a second and suddenly he heard a small groan. He opened his eye, not totally sure that the sound hadn't come from him. He looked at the girl lying on the bad and she groaned again and turned slightly. Xander got out of the chair and walked over to the bed. He noticed that her eyes were open. Bright green flecked with gold they stared up at him from the bed.  
  
"Be careful," Xander said quietly. "You hurt yourself pretty badly back there. You must have jumped right into the fray. Are you okay?"  
  
The girl nodded slightly. "I think so. My head hurts and my chest is tight but I'll be alright."  
  
"Good," Xander said. "Now can you tell me what happened?"  
  
"I don't know," the girls said shutting her eyes tightly. "I remember a bright flash of blue light and then I woke up in piles of trash. I saw some people fighting and then I passed out again. The next thing I remember is having this woman with black hair leaning over me and asking me something. That's all I know."  
  
"What's your name?" Xander asked.  
  
The girl looked up at him and shut her eyes again. "I don't know. I don't remember anything."  
  
Xander shook his head. "How about where you come from? Maybe an address or phone number or even a state?"  
  
The girl shook her head roughly. "I don't remember anything. That flash is the first thing that I know."  
  
"Maybe you hit your head when you were attacked. You can speak so you obviously remember something. I'm sure it will come back to you."  
  
The girl nodded. She obviously didn't believe him but was too tired to press the issue. "Who are you?"  
  
Xander smiled. "I'm Xander and the woman that you saw leaning over you was Faith. We're friends. We brought you back to an apartment and bandaged you up. You might be sore for a few days but you fell on a glass bottle."  
  
The girl leaned back on the pillow and smiled. "That's why I feel so cut up. Thank you for all the help. As soon as I'm better I'll leave and stop being an inconvenience."  
  
"You're not one," Xander said. "I know this will sound strange but I think we've been looking for you."  
  
"You're right. That does sound strange."  
  
Xander smiled. "Get some sleep and I'll be back in the morning with something for you to eat. You're safe here."  
  
The girl nodded. She took a breath as if to say something. She changed her mind and instead said, "Thank you Xander."  
  
Xander smiled and walked out of the room. He left the door open a crack so he could keep an eye on the girl. He lay down on the sofa and took another drink of coffee. He had been planning to stay up but in a few seconds he was asleep, his light snoring the only sound in the dark apartment.  
  
Xander woke up first and the apartment was quiet with light rays of sunshine flowing in the kitchen window and across the living room. Xander stretched and stood up. His neck protested from hours of sleeping at a weird angle but when Xander looked at his watch he saw that he had only dozed off about three hours ago. He let out a sigh and wondered why coffee waited hours to kick in. He walked over to Kennedy's bedroom door and peered inside. The girl was still there, fast asleep but her brow was furrowed as if deep in thought.  
  
Xander smiled and settled down on the sofa opening the mystery novel that he had started last nigh. A few hours later Kennedy opened the door across the living room and walked out. She yawned and crossed towards the kitchen. "What are you doing out here?"  
  
"The girl woke up last night. She can't remember anything before some flash of blue light and opening her eyes in the alley. Faith was the last thing she saw before she woke up last night. I'm thinking that she got hit on the head by that creature last night or something. She doesn't even know her name."  
  
Kennedy nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee. "I let Willow sleep. She's exhausted. She didn't even wake up when I left."  
  
"Well the girl's still asleep too so we'll just watch out for her. Do you thin Willow might be able to restore the girl's memory. That way if she is a slayer we can start training and if she's not then we'll be able to find out why she's so powerful."  
  
"I think she might be able to. Willow said that if she was a slayer she was one of the most powerful slayers she had felt in a long time. She said that most of the slayers were just dots you know. There but not really able to be pointed out individually but that this girl was bigger than any of those dots."  
  
Xander nodded. "Super slayer huh? Do you think she has tights and a cape?"  
  
"Not in your size," Kennedy joked.  
  
Xander looked hurt for a moment before smiling. "In a few hours I'll take her in breakfast and then when Willow wakes up we'll see what she can do."  
  
Kennedy nodded in agreement before pouring herself a bowl of cereal.  
  
The girl was propped up in bed when Willow walked through the door. She looked much stronger now and Xander said that her wounds were healing with surprising speed. Xander and Kennedy used that as proof that she was a slayer but Willow wasn't so sure. Not even Kennedy gave off power like this girl.  
  
The girl looked up and saw Xander and Kennedy follow her in. "Hi," Willow said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm Willow."  
  
The girl shook Willow's hand and smiled humorlessly. "Hi, I have no idea who I am."  
  
Willow nodded and pulled out a pouch. "That's what we're going to try to fix right now. I think that you're strong enough. What would you say if I told you that I was a witch and that I want to use magik on you to try and revive your memory?"  
  
The girl shrugged. "I'd say go on ahead."  
  
Willow nodded. "You've obviously heard of witches before since you believe me."  
  
The girl drew back. "Should I not?"  
  
Willow smiled. "No, don't worry about it. What happened last night was that I summoned a demon with a spell. When we killed it we found you and we don't know how you got there."  
  
The girl nodded and pointed to her head. "I want to find out what's in here. Like Xander said, I'm able to speak and I think I can read so I must have some kind of past."  
  
Willow put her hands on the sides of the girl's head and closed her eyes. The girl looked at her closed eyes and gasped, she could feel something moving in her head, and it hurt. There was a bright flash and Willow fell back on the bed. The girl let out a yell and fell into her pillows. When she pushed herself up blood was running out of her nose. "What in the hell was that?"  
  
"I don't know," Willow yelled back. "You have no memory, no nothing, no glimpse even. It's like you came from nothing."  
  
"What are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying that I can't retrieve your memory even if you do have one. I can't find any memory. I mean you have a brain, you amazingly smart but it's like last night was the first time you ever opened your eyes. I'm afraid I can't help you but I can tell you one thing. You're not a slayer."  
  
"A what?" the girl asked.  
  
Kennedy sighed. "We're going to have to explain everything."  
  
Xander took a seat. "This could take a while."  
  
Two hours and a thousand questions later the girl looked at them with wide eyes. "If I hadn't seen that flash and that creature that you had been fighting I would think you were all full of shit. But for some unknown reason I believe you. I feel like I've been told almost the same thing before. Some things that you say or that you do bring back little pictures but they don't make any sense."  
  
Willow nodded. "There's a chance that your memory could come back. I don't really know."  
  
"What are we going to call her?" Kennedy asked, standing up and pacing around the bedroom.  
  
"Hey," the girl said, "I'm right here. Don't talk about me, talk to me."  
  
Kennedy shot her a glance. Willow looked up at Kennedy, her dark eyes flashing and Kennedy just let out a breath. "What do you want to be called?" Willow asked turning back to the girl.  
  
The girl bit her bottom lip for a second, thinking this over. "When you first talked to me Xander you told me that I jumped into something. What was that word?"  
  
Xander thought a moment. "Did I say fray? That you jumped into the fray?"  
  
The girl nodded. "That's it. Fray. I want my name to be fray."  
  
Willow smiled. "Alright then Fray, welcome to the Scooby gang."  
  
Fray looked at her. "What?"  
  
Willow smiled. "We'll explain later. Get your rest for right now and when you're strong enough we'll find you some clothes. There's a lot you need to learn."  
  
Fray nodded and leaned back on her pillows. Kennedy, Willow, and Xander walked out of the room. Willow waited until the door was closed to turn on Kennedy. "What in the hell were you doing? You have no right to treat her that way."  
  
Kennedy looked at Willow. "You seem damn ready to trust her when we don't know anything about her."  
  
"I know that we know more about her than she knows about herself. She doesn't know who or what she is or where she's from. " Kennedy glared at Willow for another second or two before turning away. "I'm going to the Coven to see if they need me. I'll be back this afternoon."  
  
Xander watched her walk away and heard the door slam shut behind her. "Welcome to New Sunnydale," he said. "Where if it's not weird it doesn't belong here." 


	3. Dreams

FRAY  
  
Episode 3: Dreams  
  
Kennedy blocked the punch that her opponent threw at her and caught the other girl's wrist, throwing her onto the mat with a twist of her shoulders. The girl jumped up and countered with a side kick towards Kennedy's chest. The older slayer caught the girl's foot and twisted it, sending her spinning towards the floor. "You're not moving fast enough. I've seen you on the bag. Try harder."  
  
The young slayer looked up at Kennedy, her brown eyes hard. "I'm tired," she said.  
  
"So what," Kennedy yelled. "Attack me, hit me or you won't get to rest."  
  
The girl glared at Kennedy and took a step forward. She jumped up, faking with her left foot and kicking out with her right. Kennedy blocked it but the girl landed quickly and snapped Kennedy across the face with the back of her fist. Kennedy grabbed the wound and looked at the girl. "It's about time," she said. "Get out of here. Next time you'd better do that in the first three minutes or I'll knock you down for good."  
  
The slayer nodded and took off running upstairs. Kennedy shook her head. The girl had only been fourteen but the fight she had had earlier with Willow was still on her mind and wasn't doing wonderful things with her attitude. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had somehow been wrong. There was no evidence that Fray, or whatever she was calling herself, was evil. Kennedy could almost admit that she was jealous of all the power the girl had. And the fact that Willow had called all the slayers dots hadn't helped. She could ALMOST admit that.  
  
Dawn jogged over and hugged Kennedy; the two girls had become closer after Buffy had left a few months ago. "You don't look too happy," she commented.  
  
Kennedy smiled. "Is it that obvious?"  
  
"Besides the fact that you almost beat up a kid in the ring, yeah, it's obvious."  
  
Kennedy sat down on one of the weight benches. "I had a fight with Willow about that girl we found last night. She doesn't have any kind of a memory. Willow can't even find a trace of anything. She doesn't know her name so she picked Fray. Anyway, Willow seems to trust her and I don't so be argued about that and I feel bad about it." "Because Willow was right?"  
  
Kennedy glared at Dawn. "Exactly," she said.  
  
Dawn laughed and sat down next to Kennedy. "You'll feel better if you told her you were sorry."  
  
Kennedy glared at her again. "Just because you're a watcher you think you always have to be right, don't you?"  
  
Dawn smiled. "Well, it's in the job description."  
  
Kennedy stood up and stretched. "I might as well go talk to her because I'm no good here like this. I'll be back tomorrow."  
  
"It will take you that long to apologize?"  
  
"Well," Kennedy smiled, "the process of making up takes time."  
  
Dawn just laughed and Kennedy walked out the door of the warehouse.  
  
Willow and Xander were sitting on the sofa in the apartment's living room when Kennedy walked in. They both looked up from the book they were reading. "What are you guys looking for?" Kennedy asked.  
  
Willow looked away. Xander glanced at her and then answered. "We're looking up that summoning spell that Willow did and trying to see if there's anything in it that could have destroyed Fray's memory."  
  
"Destroyed?" Kennedy said. "That sounds much worse than lost."  
  
Willow nodded. "There was nothing in there. Not even a trace and it's weird that she can speak because she should be a vegetable."  
  
Kennedy shook her head. "Why can't we just get the vampires and the demons? Those we can deal with but this, we don't even know where to start."  
  
Xander nodded and closed the book. "I think we've done enough research for today. I'll go by the warehouse and get Dawn and Andrew to start looking things up. I'll call if they find anything."  
  
Kennedy and Willow said goodbye as Xander grabbed his coat and left the apartment. Willow stood up and started moving towards the kitchen. "Wait," Kennedy said, reaching out and grabbing Willow's arm.  
  
Willow spun towards Kennedy and looked at her, her dark eyes blazing. "Do you want to get on me more for trusting her? She'd a kid and."  
  
"You were right," Kennedy said, interrupting Willow.  
  
Willow stopped and looked into Kennedy's dark eyes. "What?"  
  
"You were right. We have no reason not to trust her and I was wrong about what I said. I'm sorry."  
  
Willow hugged Kennedy closely and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I forgive you," Willow said, pulling away.  
  
Kennedy smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Willow sat back down on the sofa and opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly there was a scream from the bedroom. Kennedy and Willow jumped up and ran to the door. Fray was asleep, the covers twisted around her legs and sweat pouring off her face. Her wound on her side had reopened and the gauze was soaked with blood. "Leave me alone," she yelled.  
  
"What do we do?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"Go get me the first aid kit. I'll try to wake her up."  
  
"Be careful."  
  
Kennedy ran out of the room and Willow walked over to the bed. She pushed Fray's shoulders down on the bed and put a cool hand on her forehead. The girl shot up in bed and grabbed Willow's neck with a strong hand. Her green eyes were hard, hate filling them. Suddenly she blinked and her eyes betrayed confusion. She let go of Willow and fell back on her pillow, her face contorted in pain. "God," she gasped. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that."  
  
"It's okay. Are you alright?"  
  
Fray shook her head. "I was having a nightmare. I was in this dark room and suddenly a voice said 'I know who you are.' I started running towards the voice but it got farther and farther away until I fell into this pit. There were all these men in there in black robes and they kept yelling that they knew who I was but they never told me."  
  
Willow nodded and pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear. "You opened your cuts again so I'll have to bandage them again."  
  
Fray shook her head. "I need to get the hell out of here. You've seen what I can do and since I don't know who I am or what I am I'm a danger to you."  
  
She tried to get up but a strong hand reached over Willow's shoulder and pushed her back down on the bed. Kennedy handed the medical kit to Willow and glared at Fray. "If Willow trusts you then you should trust yourself. You're not a danger to us. We just want to help you."  
  
Fray shook her head again. "I can't risk it. You have already done enough. You've done more than anyone I can remember." Fray smiled sadly. "Not that that's a hard task to accomplish."  
  
Kennedy sat down next to Willow and put her hand on Fray's arm. "Listen to me," she said forcefully. "If anything happens with you and you end up being one of the bad guys I'll take care of it. I won't let anything hurt the people I love. You're in one of the safest places in the world."  
  
Fray looked at Kennedy for a moment, her face showing a mind deep in thought. "If I do anything to make you second guess my integrity I want you to take me out. No questions asked, alright?"  
  
Kennedy nodded. Willow looked at both of the girls and shook her head. She could feel the power in the room. It was nearly bouncing off the walls and even though neither of them knew it, she was in the presence of two of the most powerful humans she had ever felt. For a goddess that was a hard thing to do. Willow cleared her throat and Kennedy tore her eyes away from Fray's. "You need your sleep," Willow said, looking at Fray and Kennedy at the same time.  
  
Fray shook her head. "I've been sleeping all day. I want to get up as soon as you take care of my wounds."  
  
Willow smiled and made Fray lie back down, she had almost forgotten about the wounds. She took the medical kit from Kennedy and let the other woman pull off the bandage. Willow could see that almost half of the smaller cuts were already healed. The larger ones would take some time but still, she was healing at a surprising pace. Fray watched closely as Willow wound the bandage around her waist. "When I get better you have to teach me how to do something," Fray said finally, breaking the silence in the room.  
  
"Like what?" Willow asked.  
  
"Anything," Fray said. "I just want to be useful because of everything you've done for me. I mean, fighting, researching, hell, cleaning. I'll do anything."  
  
Kennedy smiled and helped Willow cut the bandage. "I tell you what. After you heal I'll take you to the Coven and teach you a few moves. I'm sure we can find something for you to do."  
  
Willow packed up the first aid kit and stood up. "I tell you what," she said. "I'll come back at about six this evening and I'll let you walk around some. You have to be careful though."  
  
"I'll be fine," Fray said.  
  
Willow nodded and walked out of the room. Kennedy followed and shut the door behind her. "Are you sure we should be letting her move around this soon?"  
  
"She has about half the number of scratches on her side as she had less than twenty-four hours ago. She can heal really well."  
  
"That's another slayer skill," Kennedy said. "If we can't find out anything about her memory we have to think that she might just be a powerful slayer or something like that."  
  
Willow put up the kit and walked back into the living room. "I want to try to help her find out where she's from. She doesn't have any kind of a past. I know that some of us would like to forget some of the things that have happened to us or the things that we've done but imaging not remembering anything."  
  
Kennedy nodded and took Willow's hand in hers. "We'll take care of her and give her memories to keep until we find out who she is. I need to get back to the Coven and go over some things now that I can think straight. We'll help her though."  
  
Willow nodded and kissed Kennedy lightly before she hurried out of the apartment.  
  
On the other side of the closed door Fray lay in bed, a pillow clasped tightly in her arms. She could hear Kennedy shut the door as she left and Willow sitting down on the sofa. A tear ran down the side of her cheek and she buried her face in the pillow. Her past had started fifteen hours ago, and for some reason it hurt so badly.  
  
Dawn opened another book and shut it quickly when she realized that what she was looking for wouldn't be found inside. She didn't notice Kennedy until the slayer's hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Hey," Kennedy said, sliding into a seat next to Dawn. "Is Faith here? We were supposed to go over weapons with some of the new recruits."  
  
"Nope, she's taking care of a vampire situation just outside of town. One of the groups we sent out to get some of the activated got ambushed on their way back in. They were able to get away but there were too many for them to take care of while looking after the other girls. We sent Faith, Vi, and Rona out to take a look."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "Well then I guess I'll sit around for a few more hours so Willow will think I've actually done something here."  
  
"Did you all make up?"  
  
"Yes," Kennedy smiled.  
  
Dawn opened another book and let out an exasperated sigh as she slammed it shut. "What are you looking for?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"I was walking home this afternoon to change clothes and I found an amulet lying in the middle of the street. It had a scarab with the Egyptian symbols for death carved in the back. It has magikal properties because I've seen it before but I can't remember where."  
  
"Have you asked Andrew?"  
  
"No, he's been gone all afternoon and won't be back for about thirty minutes."  
  
"Well I think he's early."  
  
Dawn looked up from another book and saw Andrew strolling through the door, his short blonde hair sticking up on his head at odd angles. "Hey guys, what's up?"  
  
Dawn pulled the amulet out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "What do you make of this?" she asked.  
  
Andrew looked at it. "Well, it's nice but I don't think it will match any of my shoes. Thanks for the offer though."  
  
Kennedy stifled a laugh and Dawn glared at him. "I was just kidding," he said quickly, tossing the amulet back to her. "I saw it in a book the other day. I'll find it."  
  
Andrew quickly walked to a nearby bookcase and started pulling out volumes. "So how's our friend doing?" Andrew asked.  
  
"Fray?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"If that's what her name is."  
  
"That's what we're calling her. She's lost her memory but besides that she's healing very quickly."  
  
"Is she an X-man?" Andrew asked, a smile crossing his face.  
  
"A what?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"An X-man, you know like Wolverine. He could heal really quickly and he had these claws that came out of his hands. I mean if we don't know where she's from maybe she's an X-man."  
  
Kennedy snorted and Dawn shook her head. "We don't live in a comic book Andrew," Dawn said.  
  
Andrew nodded. "I know but still that would be really cool."  
  
Andrew pulled a heavy leather book out of the bookcase and tossed it onto the table. "I found it," he said.  
  
Andrew leaned over the book flipping the pages quickly. Finally he found the picture of the amulet in the middle of the page. Only the amulet wasn't alone. It was being worn by a skinny, lanky demon with thick claws extending from its arms instead of hands. "Moot," Andrew read, "the Egyptian word for death is embodied by this ancient demon said to have been called by Set to destroy his brother Osiris. This demon lives underground and only comes up at night."  
  
"Well, at least we know what it is," Kennedy said.  
  
Dawn swallowed. "And that a good thing right?"  
  
Kennedy hopped out of her chair and stretched. "I'll assemble a patrol team for tonight and we'll go looking for this thing. If we don't find it tonight though we'll go underground tomorrow."  
  
Dawn nodded and closed the book. "Take some nice long weapons though. You don't want to get close to those claws."  
  
Kennedy smiled and walked upstairs to assemble a team.  
  
The drip of water echoed through the long sewer tunnels that ran below New Sunnydale. The sound was comforting to the creature that lived down there though. "They know we're here," a voice said.  
  
"Yes my lord," another one answered.  
  
"How many of your warriors do you have here?"  
  
"Fifteen of the Moot are ready to serve your cause my lord."  
  
The more human sounding voice let out a sharp laugh. "Throughout the underworld I have hear of the hundreds of slayers that have fought everything from vampires to demons to the ultimate evil but never had them met an adversary such as Set."  
  
"Yes my lord," the hissing voice said. 


	4. Memories

Episode 4: Memories The slayers combed the streets of New Sunnydale in large groups. Twelve in one group and eight in another, the slayers walked through the streets. In each hand their was a weapon, a sword or stake or knife or crossbow. Kennedy walked with one of the groups while Faith walked with another one. The moon was high over the city and Faith checked her watch. "Kennedy," she yelled.  
  
Kennedy came running from where her group was across the street. "We've been out here for four hours and haven't even found a trace."  
  
"Let's walk to the end of this street and then back to the Coven and if we don't see anything then we'll go underground tomorrow," Kennedy suggested.  
  
Faith nodded and Kennedy jogged back over to her group. They walked a little longer until the street stopped. Kennedy turned to Faith and shrugged her shoulders. Faith shook her head and started to move back the way they had come. Suddenly a pair of manhole covers on opposite sides of the streets exploded into the air and creatures began to pour out into the streets. The Moot looked almost identical to their picture, with long arms and legs and oval shaped heads on top of thin necks.  
  
Their claws extended at least three feet past their arms and nearly dragged the ground. Faith counted fifteen of the creatures when the last one came out of the manhole. The next creature to crawl out looked human but all the slayers could feel that he was more monster than any of the Moot. His hair was bright red and stuck up high on his head. He had a dark complexion and his dark eyes gazed with amusement at the scene. "Please," he said, his voice booming through the silent streets. "Don't stop on my account."  
  
Kennedy tightened her hand on the sword that she held. "Stay away from the claws," she yelled, before jumping forward and striking the nearest Moot with her foot.  
  
The street erupted into a war zone as slayer and Moot clashed steel with claws. There were groans and grunts of effort, shrieks of pain from both the Moots and from the slayers and cheers of victory from both sides as well. Kennedy dodged a set of claws swiping in her direction before swinging her sword hard and the creature's head rolled off its neck. She then jumped over a pair of swinging claws and brought the blade down hard between the Moot's shoulder blades. The slayer next to her let out a cry as a set of claws raked across her back but she turned quickly and stabbed the Moot in the chest.  
  
Faith kicked two of the creatures in the chest and swung the hefty battle axe high above her head. She brought it crashing down on one of the creature's shoulders before pulling it out of thick gray flesh and swiping it across one of the other creature's stomach. Soon the ground was covered with dead Moot and the slayers were clustered in the middle of the street staring at the man in front of them. He looked around at the chaos and when he looked back up his eyes were full of fury and rage. He quickly buried it behind a look of calm detachment. "Not bad," he said, raising his hand.  
  
A bright flash of yellow light consumed the street and when it was gone the bodies of the dead Moot had disappeared. "I happen to be very upset right now," the man said. "They were good fighters."  
  
"Not good enough," Faith said.  
  
The man looked at her. "Who are you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.  
  
"Faith," she said. "Not that it's any of your business."  
  
The man laughed. "I was just wondering. You don't have to be so defensive."  
  
Faith glared at him. "Who are you?"  
  
"Don't you know?" He asked, his eyebrows rising in amusement.  
  
"Set," Kennedy whispered.  
  
Set smiled and nodded. "You know your history but you're still stupid enough to be standing here."  
  
Kennedy snorted. "You honestly think you scare me. Buddy, you should have seen the demented priest that rolled through Sunnydale about six months ago."  
  
Set smiled. "Yes, I heard about your little battle with the first evil. Funny actually that you won but you were lucky. Occasionally luck runs out. I think you'd better be thinking seriously about your next move, it could be your last."  
  
"Are you just stalling for time because you sound like you're babbling," Faith said.  
  
Oh please," Set hissed. "Amuse me for a few more hours with your simplistic one-liners. I don't know how I'll be able to defeat you then."  
  
Faith glared at him. "Well, while you figure it out I'll just kill you."  
  
Faith rushed forward, her axe held high above her head. "Don't Faith he's a." Kennedy's warning was drowned out by a large bang that echoed through the street like a gunshot.  
  
Faith stood suspended in the air, her face the only part of her body that she could move. "You son of a bitch," she yelled. "You're too weak to beat me without your little powers."  
  
Set laughed and Kennedy tightened her grip on her blade. "Damn slayer," she muttered.  
  
Kennedy took a few running steps and jumped over Faith, she landed heavily on the ground and rolled towards Set. She was just a few steps away when he waved her aside with a hand and she went slamming into the side of a brick building. The brick crushed in a few inches and dust fell on her head. "Shit," Kennedy groaned.  
  
She stood up again and retrieved her sword. She flipped it in her hand, and holding onto the blade she threw it as hard as she could at Set. The man turned and looked at the blade spinning towards him. With a slight movement of his head the blade spun back towards Kennedy. It struck her in the shoulder and imbedded itself deep. She could feel the tip of the blade striking the brick as she flew back into the brick wall with a scream of pain. "What was that you were trying to say?" Faith asked, her eyes still locked on Set.  
  
"He's a god," Kennedy hissed.  
  
Tears fell down the younger slayer's face and mingled with sweat. Blood ran down her gray t-shirt, the hilt of the sword sticking out of her right shoulder. Rona ran over to her and helped her pull the blade out of her shoulder. The blood started running more freely but Kennedy was able to stand. She put her arm around Rona's shoulder and the other girl helped her stand. Set smiled and moved his hand. Faith rose ten feet above the ground before falling hard to the pavement. "Come and find me when you'll give me a challenge. I like a fair fight."  
  
Set blinked and suddenly he was gone. "What is it with bad guys and their disappearing trick?" Rona asked.  
  
Faith pulled herself off the ground. She hobbled over to Kennedy, her right ankle strained badly. "Come on," she said, taking Rona's place under Kennedy's good arm. "You take them back to the Coven and tell Dawn and Andrew to get to work. I'll be there as soon as I take Kennedy home."  
  
"Do you need any help?" Vi asked, walking over to where the small group stood.  
  
"Nope," Faith said, starting to help Kennedy back towards the apartments. "I've got it."  
  
Rona stood there a moment more watching Faith help Kennedy down the street before returning to the group of slayers.  
  
Willow helped Fray around the living room, her hand clutching the younger girl's tightly. Fray hissed in pain as another step pulled her side. "I'm surprised," Willow commented as she helped Fray over to the sofa.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"You know I'm a witch but you've never asked me to use magick to heal you."  
  
"You've done enough for me. I guess it just never occurred. I mean I'll be alright in a few days. I'm just tender, that's all."  
  
Willow nodded and stood up. She looked at her watch and then at the door. "They'll be back soon," Fray said.  
  
"What," Willow said, looking back at the young girl.  
  
"Kennedy, and the others, they'll be back soon."  
  
"What makes you think I'm worried?" Willow asked, her head tilting slightly.  
  
Fray laughed. "In the past fifteen minutes you've checked your watch five times. That's a bit excessive. They'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah," Willow said, still unsure. "And I haven't heard anything so that doesn't mean there's something wrong. That's good, right?"  
  
Fray nodded and suddenly the door slammed open. Faith was standing in the doorway with Kennedy in her arms. She was now carrying the slayer, the wounded woman's legs unable to hold her anymore. Blood dripped on the wood floors as Faith carried her inside. "Quick," Faith yelled. "She's been stabbed."  
  
Willow stood there, her eyes glued on the pale figure in Faith's arms. Fray stood up, ignoring the pain in her side. "Put her on the sofa and try to bring Willow back to reality. I'll go get the medical kit."  
  
Fray ran back to the bathroom and came out a few moments later with a large white box. Willow was leaning over Kennedy, her blood stained hand resting on the woman's cheek. "It's going to be okay baby," she whispered.  
  
Fray sat the case down beside Willow and knelt beside the sofa. "Willow, I have to ask a favor of you."  
  
"What?" Willow said, snapping out of her daze.  
  
"I have to ask you to use your magick to heal her."  
  
Willow smiled slightly and took a deep breath. She put her hands over the young woman and let her breath out. Fray put a hand on Willow's shoulder and the witch felt the younger girl's power flowing through her veins. She let out the breath and a bright green beam of light entered Kennedy's chest and seamed to flow throughout her whole body. Suddenly Kennedy gasped and inhaled deeply. Willow moved her hand, the green beam gone, and kissed Kennedy lightly on the forehead. "Owww," Kennedy groaned, trying to sit up.  
  
Fray pushed her back down on the sofa. "Sit down Kennedy; I need to clean up this blood before you track it all over the house. Do you have some towels I can use?"  
  
Kennedy nodded. "In the bathroom closet, third shelf."  
  
Fray jumped up and started running towards the bathroom. "Hang on," Faith said.  
  
Fray stopped where she was. "What do you know about the Egyptian god Set?"  
  
"I've never heard of him, why?"  
  
"I just find it weird that he showed up around the same time that you did, that's all. And then you show up when that Slayer Killer's after us all. Who needs a Hellmouth when we've got you?"  
  
Willow stood up and glared at Faith. "Leave her alone," she said.  
  
Fray shook her head. "She's right Willow. I can't guarantee that I'm not the one bringing these things here. I'll be gone tonight Faith so don't worry about it."  
  
Willow was about to protest but Fray was already gone into the bathroom. When she came back out with a handful of towels the determined set of her jaw kept Willow from saying anything. Willow, Faith, and Kennedy were so busy cleaning up blood and explaining what they had seen that they never noticed Fray slip out the front door and close it quietly behind her.  
  
Kennedy was the first to notice that she was gone. She glared up at Faith. "Now we've got a girl with no memory out on the streets with a rogue god on the loose because of you."  
  
Faith shrugged. "If what Red says is true this kid's powerful enough to take care of herself. I don't trust her."  
  
Kennedy stood up ignoring the throbbing pain in her shoulder. The wound was gone but it still hurt like hell. "Tell me that she's evil. Tell me that you can look into her eyes and that you think she's still lying. I believe that she's more pure than anyone in this room, anyone in this city. Tell me she's evil and make me believe it."  
  
Faith just snorted but she looked down at her feet. "You know she's good but you're just looking for someone to blame for tonight because he's stronger than you are," Kennedy yelled.  
  
This got a reaction from the dark haired slayer. She reared back and slapped Kennedy with the back of her hand. Kennedy held her wound and tasted copper as blood filled her mouth. "I'm going to go look for her," Kennedy said, grabbing a sword off a bookcase nearby. "When I get back I want her gone."  
  
Faith glared at Kennedy as she left the apartment. She turned back around and looked at Willow. The Wicca's face was hard and Faith drew in a sharp breath, seeing the red head with her ice blue eyes after she preformed magick still freaked her out. "I was just leaving," she said quickly, and ran out the door.  
  
The wind was blowing fiercely through the streets of New Sunnydale. Fray shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts, her blood stained t-shirt offered her little protection from the cool air. Her bare feet were already sore from the rough asphalt and Fray moved to the grassy yards to give them a rest. She stopped when she heard heavy footsteps a few blocks away. "Fray, wait up," Kennedy called.  
  
Fray shook her head. The girl must have been amazingly strong to catch up with her after fifteen minutes. She kept walking but slower than before. Kennedy fell into step beside her and they walked for a few blocks in silence. "So," Kennedy finally said. "Why did you leave?"  
  
"Because of what Faith said," Fray said. "Because she's right. We have no way of knowing if I'm the one that's calling all of these things here."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Kennedy said. "We've dealt with worse before and we've lived. I trust you and Willow trusts you and that's all that matters. Faith was pissed because she couldn't beat this thing and she needed someone to blame."  
  
"No," Fray shook her head. "She's right. If I don't remember anything how can I be so sure that I'm not evil?"  
  
"Your memory will come back," Kennedy insisted, stopping Fray with a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Fray turned towards Kennedy, tears forming in her eyes. "No it won't," she yelled. "I can't remember my friends, my family, my first kiss. I don't remember school or birthday parties or anything. I have no past and I can't guarantee anything about who I am."  
  
Tears started flowing freely down her face and Kennedy finally remembered, looking at that tear streaked face of surrender, that behind all that power she held, she was a scared kid with no past. Kennedy hugged her tightly and Fray buried her head into the slayer's shoulder. "Come on," Kennedy said. "Let's get you back to the house and get you something to eat. Before you take off you need some better clothes. If anyone saw you in those they'd think you had killed someone and you'd be picked up by the cops in no time. Tomorrow we'll go to the Coven and we'll find out everything that you know how to do. Don't worry about the past but focus on the present and the future and create your own."  
  
Fray nodded and pulled away and the two girls walked back to Willow's apartment, a renewed sense of purpose in both of their steps. 


	5. Blood of Set Part 1

Episode 5: The Blood of Set; part 1  
  
Faith sat down at the table in her kitchen across from Xander. Wood was sitting on her left, Kennedy and Fray on her right. Willow, Dawn, and Andrew were looking over books that were stacked on top of the kitchen counters. "So how do we take out this guy," Faith asked. "I know that three of you here have dealt with a god before but this is my first time."  
  
Willow looked up from her book; her tone was still tight as she spoke with Faith. "We've translated the Hieroglyphs that were on the scarab amulet underneath that back panel and it says something about the blood of Set touching the amulet and the spell is complete and his power is destroyed."  
  
"So we have to get some of his blood," Kennedy said, shrugging.  
  
Faith glanced at her. "You want to go ask him for some because as I remember we never even got close enough to shake his hand."  
  
Fray nodded. "If he can keep you back we'll have to get it some other way."  
  
"Like how?" Faith asked, her tone harsh.  
  
"Get something that has his blood on it. Shoot him with an arrow or even a bullet, hit him in the head with a rock, or even catch him with a bloody nose. It doesn't say how much blood we need does it?"  
  
"Nope," Willow said, "which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But Fray's right, if we can shoot him with an arrow and have him rip it out of his skin it'll have his blood on it. That could work."  
  
"I don't know. I threw a sword at him and he had no problems tossing it right back at me while holding Faith and all that was after he had taken care of fifteen dead Moot on the street," Kennedy said, her dark eyes registering defeat.  
  
The group lapsed into silence. Fray toyed with the cuff of a shirt that Kennedy had let her borrow and then ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "What about a spell?" She finally asked.  
  
"What?" Faith said.  
  
"A spell," Fray said, looking at Willow. "I mean if you can heal, couldn't you wound. You're a goddess too, doesn't that make you equals?"  
  
Willow smiled. "He's had his power for thousands of years and I've had mine for just over six months. He knows what he's capable of and I have no idea what I can do with my power."  
  
Fray nodded and sunk back into a silent bubble. Faith looked at her and tapped her leg lightly under the table with her foot. "Good idea though," She said when Fray looked up.  
  
Fray flashed her a light smile and stood up. Xander stood up too. "Alright guys," he said, "it's still early and we all have things that we need to do. If anyone has any ideas then contact Wood. It's Saturday; you'll be here all day won't you?"  
  
Robin Wood smiled at Xander. "Of course," he said. "I happened to be the principal with a slayer girlfriend and no social life."  
  
Faith slapped him in the chest and he grabbed her hand before she could pull back. "But I seem to be adjusting well."  
  
Kennedy stood up and walked over to Willow. "I'm taking Fray to the Coven for a few hours. We'll be back tonight though."  
  
"Alright," Willow said, "but early. I don't like the thought of you being around on the street when a rogue god's stalking the slayers."  
  
"Alright mom," Kennedy joked. "I'll be in by dark."  
  
Kennedy and Fray left, followed shortly by Andrew and Dawn. Willow sat down at the table next to Xander. "Do you think you can do it Willow?" Faith asked. "I mean a spell and all."  
  
"I might be able to block his powers for a few seconds but I don't know if that's enough."  
  
Wood shook his head and looked down at the table. "It will be enough, it has to be."  
  
"Five plus five?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"Ten," Fray said, looking back down at the paper that she was copying from a nearby book.  
  
"Seven times eight,"  
  
"Fifty- six."  
  
"The square root of 144?"  
  
"Twelve," Fray said, looking up at Kennedy. "Can we do something harder? I can read, write, do simple math, all this is great but it doesn't show me much."  
  
"Can you speak any more languages or write in anything different than English?" "I can write, yes, but not speak in other languages. Sometimes when I'm writing I start to make characters but then I remind myself that I'm writing in English. I don't know what this other language is called though."  
  
"That's alright," Kennedy said. "Write some for me and I'll have Dawn and Andrew run a search on it. That might give us a location or something."  
  
Fray bent over the paper and started writing, the pen strokes curved across the page and formed characters that looked closely related to Chinese script but they curved too much. Kennedy watched her work and stared at the beautiful writing even after she had put down the pen. "Pretty cool," Kennedy muttered.  
  
The slayer tore her eyes away from the paper and stood up. Slamming a book down in front of Fray she opened it to a page with different types of writing covering the page. "Read some of this if you can. Or at least tell me where it's from."  
  
Fray scanned the page. "I recognize Latin, Greek, German, and Russian. Everything else means nothing to me and even those I can only read a little."  
  
"Which one's the best?"  
  
"Russian and German seem to be the same. I can translate about three quarters of the paragraph."  
  
Kennedy nodded and shut the book. "Go stretch out on the mat and after I take this to Dawn we'll spar a little. Maybe we can work on your skills if you don't know anything."  
  
Fray stretched out on the mat and waited until Kennedy got back. Kennedy pulled Fray off the ground and showed her how to stand and how to hold her fists. She was surprised that the girl picked it up so quickly. "Now," Kennedy said. "I'm going to punch with my back fist and I want you to block with your right forearm."  
  
Fray nodded and Kennedy was surprised to see the young woman execute a perfect middle block as soon as her fist got close enough. Kennedy moved forward a little and decided to try something. She shot out with her left foot and hit Fray squarely in the chest. The girl flew to the ground a few feet away but quickly jumped up, her feet and hands ready for another attack. Kennedy rushed forward and threw a side kick straight at Fray's head. The girl blocked the kick and counter attacked with a hard roundhouse kick. Kennedy barley blocked the attack and even then the force of the blow caused her to back up a few steps.  
  
The two women continued to spar, matching each other blow for blow and block for block. Kennedy would gain the advantage and then Fray would execute and advanced counter attack and turn the tables. Soon both girls were panting and sweating, a large crowd of slayers had gathered around the outside of the mat to watch the battle. Dawn and Andrew had even stopped their work to watch. Fray stopped Kennedy's fist with her left arm and barley noticed the slayer's other fist coming towards her stomach. In the last second she was it and flipped backwards, landing hard on the mat. Kennedy rushed forward and aimed a kick at Fray's shoulder. Fray blocked the kick above her head and flipped Kennedy on her back.  
  
Kennedy continued to role until she was up on one knee. Fray was looking at her, her green eyes wide with surprise. "How did I do that?" she asked.  
  
Kennedy smiled. "I don't know but you did a damn good job at it. With some more training you might be as good as I am."  
  
Fray smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Do you mind if we stop now, my side's a little sore?"  
  
Kennedy nodded, more surprised than before. She had almost been taken down by a girl that had been wounded just forty-eight hours ago. The slayers on the outside of the ring cheered both of the fighters and Kennedy shook Fray's hand. "Not bad for a kid," she joked.  
  
Fray looked at her, almost as tall as the dark haired slayer. "I'm almost as old as you are," she said.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I just know that I am."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "Well, I think that we can find some uses for you abound here. I hope you'll reconsider staying."  
  
Fray nodded. "Maybe if I dust a few vampires then Faith will trust me."  
  
Kennedy smiled. "Faith's cool when she gives you a chance. That just takes a while."  
  
"So any ideas of where I come from?" Fray asked, sitting down in a nearby chair.  
  
"From what I can tell," Kennedy said, taking a seat across from her. "A warrior cult in either Germany or Russia that emphasizes academics as well as physical attributes."  
  
Fray shook her head. "In other words, Jack shit."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to help."  
  
"It's alright Kennedy," Fray said. "You've helped me find out who I am now, even if you can't tell me who I was. I'll get along alright."  
  
Kennedy nodded but she didn't look very convinced. Fray smiled and finally a slight curve crossed Kennedy's lips. "Alright," she said. "But I'll still help you in any way that I can. We'd probably better get home soon. It's getting dark and if we get home too late Willow will have both our skins."  
  
"Will we be alright?" Fray asked.  
  
Kennedy nodded but she got a crossbow and a sword out of a nearby case and handed the sword to Fray. "Just in case," she said. "If we get attacked, run."  
  
"You know that will never happen," Fray said, gripping the hilt of the sword.  
  
"You never know," Kennedy said. "After all, this is New Sunnydale."  
  
"No," Fray said forcefully. "I'll never run."  
  
Willow was sitting on the end of her bed when Kennedy and Fray walked inside. "You're late," Willow said walking out of her room.  
  
Kennedy smiled and motioned to a shopping bag that Fray was holding. "I had to buy her some new clothes. I was getting tired of her borrowing mine all the time."  
  
"Sorry Willow," Fray added. "We didn't see anything though."  
  
Kennedy shrugged sheepishly. Willow smiled and walked over to Kennedy. "It's all right but I'm just worried. You need to get some rest though."  
  
"Why?" Kennedy asked, taking Willow's hand in her own.  
  
"We're going after Set tonight. I found a draining spell that should do the trick. We'll have about fifteen seconds when he's powerless. We have to get his blood then."  
  
Fray nodded and put the sword down on the table. "Who's going?"  
  
Willow looked up at the ceiling for a moment, silently counting. "Faith, Wood, me, Kennedy, Vi, Zee, Dawn and Rona."  
  
"And you," Kennedy added quickly.  
  
"What?" Both Willow and Fray said at the same time.  
  
Kennedy smiled. "Well, I figured you'd be tired to the house so you need an adventure."  
  
"But Kennedy," Willow started to protest.  
  
Kennedy silenced her with a gentle hand to her lips. "This girl can fight better than any of the Slayers in the Coven. Faith and I are the only ones here that can even offer her a challenge and I want to find out what part she plays here as much as you do. We can't keep her cooped up here and expect to find anything out."  
  
"I'll stay back Willow," Fray added. "I'll be the last line of defense in case he gets through but I think I can hold my own."  
  
Willow nodded. "Fine but you're staying back with me. I need a bodyguard."  
  
Fray accepted this, knowing that Willow was adding the whole bodyguard bit to make her feel better about warming the bench during the battle but she appreciated the chance to be included. "When do we leave?" Fray asked.  
  
"We're meeting the others in the school parking lot at midnight," Willow said.  
  
Kennedy motioned to Fray to follow and, letting go of Willow's hand, she led the other girl into the kitchen. "Come on," she said. "I'll explain a few things about fighting with slayers."  
  
A cool wind was blowing through the parking lot as Kennedy, Willow, and Fray stepped out of the car and onto the pavement. Dawn hurried over and gave Willow a quick hug before handing her a bag. "Equipment," Willow said, answering Kennedy's questioning look.  
  
Fray tightened her grip on the sword on her hand as Faith's dark eyes rested on the weapon. Faith just looked at her for a second before smiling lightly. "Are you all ready for the Big Bad?"  
  
Kennedy chuckled. "The Big Bad was what we fought last year. He's the quasi Big Bad, the diet coke of Big Bad. Just one calorie, not bad enough."  
  
Faith laughed. "Fair enough, but he's bad enough for me."  
  
Wood looked at the girls like they were crazy. Finally he just gave up and shook his head in defeat. "Give up," Dawn whispered to him. "I loved with a slayer for years and I still didn't get it. I believe it's the ritualistic pre-battle one liners but it's still a mysterious custom."  
  
Willow nodded as she walked over next to Wood. "So how do we get big, bad, and Egyptian here?"  
  
Fray turned around as the wind started to pick up. "He already knows where we are," she said, tilting her head slightly. "And he's coming."  
  
"How." Kennedy asked.  
  
Fray just shrugged and turned towards the side of the school. "I'd better get ready," Willow said quickly. "I can feel him too."  
  
Fray rested the blunt edge of her sword on her shoulder. "Can you feel any Moot with him?"  
  
Willow nodded. "Only a handful though. Not too many but take care of them quickly. All of you."  
  
Willow looked directly at Fray and she nodded quickly and turned back towards the school. The others were still scanning the parking lot and the rest of the surrounding area but Fray could feel it in her blood, something strange pulling her towards the side of the school. She felt a cold chill run down her spine and the hair on the back of her neck rose slightly. The battle was about to begin and somehow she could feel it.  
  
Suddenly there was a roaring sound and a manhole cover in the sidewalk in front of the school exploded into the air, propelled by a column of yellow light. Eight Moot scurried out of the hole and onto the street. Suddenly Set rose out of the ground surrounded by bright red light licking at his black robes like eager flames. He smiled and Fray felt another chill run down her spine.  
  
"Welcome," he said, his voice booming. "I see you have brought me more to play with. A goddess, a handful of slayers." He paused for a second. "And what's this. Someone that doesn't belong here, a mere shadow but the most powerful of them all. It sounds like fun to me."  
  
Fray let his analogy of her slide away, she would ask questions later, and she tightened her hand on her weapon just like she saw the other fighters doing. Suddenly Sat yelled an Egyptian command and the Moot leapt forward. 


	6. Blood of Set Part 2

Episode 6: The Blood of Set, part 2  
  
Willow watched the god that was standing a few feet in front of her on the pavement of the school parking lot. His red hair and dark skin were just like described in the ancient Egyptian myths but the evil sneer that curved his lips could never be described with human words. The young witch started spreading the ingredients on the pavement; she had to be ready when he attacked. Set looked past the row of slayers and looked at Willow. "Work quickly goddess," he said. "I wait for no one."  
  
Willow ignored him. "A pity really," he continued. "You could have been a powerful goddess but I'm afraid you'll have to die young. Imagine the feeling of the power coursing through your veins, never having to use a chant or an herb again. It's amazing really. But then, you'll never live to find out."  
  
Kennedy tightened her grip on the crossbow in her hand and glared at the god, all fear gone from her face. "If you want her you'll have to go through me."  
  
"Awwww," Set said, his voice thick with sarcasm, "the witch and the slayer, how disgusting."  
  
Fray took a step forward. "Don't forget about me. I don't care how big your ego is, you can't beat all of us."  
  
Set smiled. "Such untapped power and you don't even know it's there. If only you knew who you were, you could be my biggest threat. I can feel your memory," he sneered. "It's floating around in there somewhere, never to be touched, never to be found. It will drive you insane eventually if you live. Luckily for you, I'm here to save you."  
  
"What do you know about me?" Fray growled.  
  
"More then you apparently," Set smiled. "I see great battles, won and lost but you always at the head of a giant army. I see a man at your shoulder and a weapon in your hands. Your power made you great but your skill made you a hero. Too bad you'll never see that."  
  
Fray just growled deeply and lifted her sword off her shoulder. Set raised his arm, the Moot surrounding him began to howl with anticipation of the ensuing battle. The man let his arm drop and the slayers dashed forward to meet the Moot. Rona, Vi, and one of the new slayers named Zee took one group of Moot while Kennedy, Faith, and Fray took the other. Kennedy had to force herself to fight and not stop to watch Fray when she caught the girl out of the corner of her eye. Fray had shown her skill in the ring with her fists and feet but handling a weapon was totally different. Kennedy had expected her to soon abandon the blade in favor of old fashioned kicks and punches but the girl was using the blade as if it had been in her hands for her entire life.  
  
The weapon spun over her head and slashed in front of the oncoming Moot in one fluid motion. The creature let out a scream and fell to the ground in two neatly carved pieces. She then turned and thrust the blade under her left arm, jamming it into a Moot's chest. Kennedy smiled as she kicked a Moot right in the chest, sending it into Faith's field of battle. The other slayer struck the creature in the jaw with her foot and its neck broke with a sickening crunch. Soon the ground was covered with dead bodies. Set just waved his hand and soon they had disappeared, smears of red blood the only evidence that the fight had ever taken place.  
  
Set took a few steps forward and Willow could feel the power radiating off of him. She quickly sat in front of the circle of candles and herbs that she had erected and looked up towards the sky. When she looked back down at him her eyes were pale blue. Set smiled lightly. "The witch has power," he mocked.  
  
Willow looked at him, her eyes shooting daggers at the god. "You haven't seen anything yet," she hissed between clenched teeth.  
  
Set's grin wavered as Willow's hands began glowing bright blue. Set quickly plastered the smile back on his face. "You're light tricks won't work on me little girl."  
  
Willow smiled back, her eyes shining against her face. "I know," she said. "But blades will."  
  
Willow threw the blue light at him and it shot across the parking lot striking Set in the chest before he could move. He inhaled sharply and his eyes opened wide. "No," he yelled.  
  
"Go," Kennedy ordered.  
  
Fray was the closest and the first one to jump ahead. Set hit her with the back of his hand and sent her flying twenty feet into the side of the school. Even without his power he was stronger than any of the slayers. Fray fought to pull herself off the ground but quickly stopped when cracked ribs started to protest.  
  
Kenned reached him next and she pulled her sword high over her head. "Anyone want to give me a hand?" she asked.  
  
Zee and Vi suddenly appeared next to her, their weapons ready. Vi loosed an arrow from her crossbow but Set caught it in midair before it touched him. He threw the bolt back at her and it hit her in the shoulder. Zee attacked with an axe and Faith followed closely behind. Soon all three slayers were battling the god. Arms and weapons were flying. Kicks and punches were fighting to get through the strong defense that Set had put up. His strong arms blocked every punch and kick and normally send the attacker rolling across the pavement. Kennedy feel to the ground as an arm blocked her shin and threw her a few feet across the parking lot.  
  
Zee attacked, the young slayer jumping in with a flying sidekick and being batted out of the way like a pesky bug. Soon it was just Faith. She was so involved in the battle that she didn't hear Willow yelling that he was regaining his powers. Set suddenly stopped fighting and Faith threw a punch to his chest. The punch struck something solid but it wasn't the god's chest. Set looked down to where her punch had landed, six inches away from his chest. "Oops," he smiled. "I forgot to tell you. You're dead."  
  
He picked her up off the ground with a single flick of his fingers. He easily stopped Kennedy, Vi, and Zee when they tried to rush him. "Come now slayer," he said glaring at Kennedy. "Do we have to do this again?"  
  
Kennedy smiled from her place behind the shield he had set up. "I was always a slow learner."  
  
Set smiled. "Maybe you'll learn this lesson."  
  
The god pointed to Willow and beckoned her over with a finger. Willow slid a few inches above the ground, her arms and legs bound together as if by unseen ropes. He waved Faith away and she flew through the unseen shield and slammed into the car that was parked a few feet away. The windshield exploded as she slammed into it. Wood, Dawn, Vi and Zee ran over to her but Kennedy stayed outside the unseen wall, tears welling up into her eyes. "Stop it," she yelled. "I'll do anything, just don't hurt her."  
  
"Shut up baby," Willow whispered.  
  
Kennedy pounded against the shield in frustration. She didn't see Fray walking up behind him, the sword held tightly in her hand. Kennedy's eyes were locked on Willow's. Set smiled lightly. "You all just don't know how to stay down. Come on now Shadow," he hissed, turning towards Fray. "Can't you just die?"  
  
He moved his hand slightly and nothing happened. Fray just shook her head like she was trying to fight off a sneeze. Fray looked back up at him, her green eyes shining and her mouth curved into a bow. She took a few steps forward and walked through the shield, the invisible wall shining blue for a few seconds as she walked through. "Don't you know that you can't kill shadows?" she asked.  
  
Set just stared at her, his eyes wide. Fray smiled at him even more, a laugh escaping her lips. "Thank you for helping me."  
  
"With what?" Set asked licking his lips.  
  
"Well, all that talk about untapped potential and everything. I had to test my limits. Thank you so much, I couldn't have done it without you."  
  
Fray pulled her sword back and slammed it into his stomach, the point protruding from his back. He dropped Willow and she landed lightly on the ground. The shield shimmered before disappearing. "You can't kill me like this," Set hissed. "It just feels like a little prick."  
  
Fray smiled. "I guess a little prick knows a little prick."  
  
She ripped the sword back out, now covered in thick red blood, and tossed it to Willow. Set healed quickly but he was still too drained to perform any spells. Kennedy helped Willow over to where the amulet lay on the ground while Fray was left to deal with the god. "Come on," she taunted. "I want to test out my power."  
  
She smiled one more time before jumping off the ground and kicking out with her foot. It connected with the side of his head, a sickening crack echoing through the parking lot. Set fell to the ground, blood running out of his head. Fray landed gracefully and kicked him in the stomach, her foot connecting with the still tender wound. Set flipped over a few timed before landing on the pavement. He stood up as quickly as he could. "I'll kill you," he shrieked.  
  
Fray smiled. "That's what they all say."  
  
Set charged forward and the started trading punches and blocks. Set was finally able to land a good punch and Fray stumbled backwards. A smile crossed Set's face and he spun, cracking her in the jaw with his elbow and slamming her in the chest with a palm. Fray fell to the ground and rolled backwards. When she stood up her shirt was already stained with blood from her nose.  
  
She caught Set's fist right as it came towards her face. "What do you know about me?" she asked, twisting his arm behind his back. "And give me some real answers, not some cryptic riddle shit."  
  
Set hissed. "You're not supposed to be here," he said. "You exist but not here and not now. You're a Fader, that's what you were made to be. If something happens that could destroy the future you come back. Something happened though and you hit a little problem on your way. It made you more powerful then any Fader that was in existence but you also lost your memory. Because of that the future is doomed. You don't remember your mission."  
  
Fray twisted his arm even harder. "When do I come from?"  
  
Set shook his head and cried out. "I don't know. All that I told you I heard from others. Your coming sent a shockwave through the world. Nothing this powerful has shown up since the first. But you don't remember why you're here. Isn't this your lucky day?"  
  
Fray hissed. "Yeah, I must have stepped on a goddamned leprechaun."  
  
"Hey Fray, come here. She's almost done," Zee called from the body of the destroyed car.  
  
Faith was leaning against Wood, her face cut and bleeding. Vi was helping clean up the girls paying no attention to her own wound and Kennedy and Dawn were helping support an exhausted Willow as she held the amulet, now covered in Set's blood. Fray let him go and Set just stood there. "You and your friends are the noblest adversaries I've ever met. I don't mind dying by your hands."  
  
Fray smiled and looked back at her friends. "They're pretty great aren't they?"  
  
She started walking away but turned back towards him after a few steps. "Thanks for the information. I'm sorry that it had to end this way."  
  
Set smiled and shrugged; the most human look on his face that she had seen. "Hey, it's in the job description."  
  
Fray nodded and walked away. She saw Willow drop the amulet and heard Set let out a scream as beams of white light shot through his body and finally consumed him but she never looked back. She had other things on her mind. "What did he say?" Kennedy asked as Fray walked over to the group.  
  
"I'll tell you later," Fray said. "Come on, let's go home."  
  
Willow looked at Fray, her forehead creased with worry. She shook it off though and allowed herself to be led to the car that was still in one piece. "Do you need a ride?" Kennedy asked.  
  
Wood shook his head. "We can walk home."  
  
Dawn nodded. "The Coven isn't that far away and Vi's not that badly hurt."  
  
"Just a scratch," the energetic slayer said.  
  
Kennedy nodded. "Alright, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Good job."  
  
Fray took Dawn's place under Willow's arm and helped the witch into the back of the car. Fray climbed into the passenger's seat and didn't even notice when the car started to drive away. Her mind was far from New Sunnydale.  
  
"What in the hell's a Fader?" Kennedy asked from her perch on the end ok Willow's bed. Fray was sitting in the chair next to it and Willow was laying back, her dark eyes looking tired but still interested.  
  
"I'm like a time cop from what Set told me. It's kind of like, if something could happen in the past that could destroy the future, I have to come back and stop it. Something went wrong though and I ended up here with more power than normal and less memory than ever."  
  
"I don't understand," Kennedy said, her head tilted slightly.  
  
Fray stood up and sighed. "I do," she said. "It means that not only do I not have a home, a family, a memory, or a chance in hell to find out who I am. It also means that I don't even have a time."  
  
Fray shook her head as tears clouded her eyes. When she looked back up though here eyes were as clear and as hard as ever. Kennedy stood up and hugged her tightly. "We're your family," she said. "I know that might seem like much but you saved Willow tonight and for that I owe you my life. You are stronger and smarter and faster than anyone here and we could really use your help."  
  
Fray blushed slightly but smiled at Kennedy. "No problem, but I really want to find out more about what a Fader is. Do you think Giles might know, or something else. Maybe if there were others there would be some text on them. If I can find out something like that maybe I can find out what my mission was."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "I'll help in any way that I can. All of us will but I don't think it will be easy."  
  
Fray nodded. "I don't care if it's easy or not but I need it to happen. The fate of the world rests in my hands."  
  
"I want you to go to school," Willow suddenly piped up.  
  
"Say what?" Fray asked.  
  
"I want you to start at New Sunnydale High. Wood would be able to get you in without any problems but you need to do something besides worry about what's going on and fight the bad guys. We make all the slayers under eighteen and Dawn go as well. You need that kind of interaction."  
  
Fray rolled her eyes. "Just what I need, more drama in my life."  
  
Willow laughed. "High school was great for me, what with the demons and the vampires and the magicks and the boys."  
  
Kennedy cleared her throat and looked down at her. Willow smiled. "I had to learn from my mistakes."  
  
Kennedy just nodded and turned back to Fray. Willow flashed the younger girl a smile over Kennedy's shoulder. Fray returned it. "Alright," Fray said. "I could always use a cute guy to pass the time with. But can I still fight on a school night."  
  
Willow smiled. "We'll have to see about that. Now go to bed, you start tomorrow."  
  
Fray smiled as she walked out the door. "Oh goody, I get to go through high school, probably a second time."  
  
Kennedy watched her leave. She turned back to Willow as soon as she was gone. "You didn't do that to keep her mind off us finding out about what a Fader is did you?"  
  
"No," Willow admitted. "I did that because we can't know that she'll ever go back to whatever time she came from. She might have to start a life here forever and we need to help her do that, no matter what."  
  
Author's note: Thanks for the feedback. I won't be able to put up another chapter for a few weeks. I'll be in Europe but please tell me what you think about the story. In the next chapter we get to see Fray in school and everything like that. Please give me some feedback though and I'll have the next chapter up in about three weeks. 


	7. The First Day

Episode 7: The First Day  
  
A cold wind blew across the dead grass and over the rounded hills. The sun shone in the sky, a golden ball of flames that offered no warmth. It was like looking at a picture. Fray felt herself shiver but knew that it was not from the cold wind that whipped her hair around causing it to sting her cheeks.  
  
Low hills covered with brown grass surrounded her and Fray was overcome with a sense of vulnerability and fear. She started climbing the hill in front of her and when she reached the top, a wide valley stretched out in front of her. Thousands upon thousands of people stood in the valley dressed in a huge array of clothes and armor, some carrying shields and wearing helmets. All carried weapons, swords, axes, spears, maces, and a number of unidentifiable ones. Fray turned to her left and saw a young man scurrying across the hill top. He smiled as he stood in front of her. His handsome face was accented by piercing blue eyes that held both strength and kindness in a single glance. "The troops are ready Fader. The hoards won't have a chance anymore. We will follow you to victory."  
  
"There will be death," Fray heard herself say.  
  
"We accept death," the young man said.  
  
"There will be pain."  
  
"We accept pain."  
  
"There will be sorrow and loss."  
  
"We accept sorrow and loss."  
  
"Then you are ready for victory. You are ready for war."  
  
The young man handed her an unidentifiable weapon and knelt before her. "I am yours Fader. In life and death."  
  
Fray knelt beside him and lifted his chin with one finger. "I am yours shielder. In love and hate, in pain and sorrow and happiness and joy. You brought me back. I am yours."  
  
Fray bent forward and kissed the young man softly on the lips. "Now we fight."  
  
Fray stood up, the shielder standing next to her. She turned around and saw another army, this one no more than a mass of dark twisted shapes. A vision of evil standing in the dead valley behind her. Fray turned back to her army. "For victory," she yelled, raising her weapon above her head. "For us!"  
  
The army lunged up the hill, the dark shadowed army climbing up the other side. With an inhuman shriek the armies clashed and the world turned black.  
  
Fray opened her eyes to find herself floating in a world of darkness. Her arms and legs bound by thick chains. "We need you Fader," the young man's voice echoed through her head. "They are coming. You must remember and I will guide you. I can only show you the path. You must walk it. Without you we are doomed. You must remember."  
  
"I'm trying," Fray yelled into the darkness. "But I don't know where to start."  
  
"I will show you," the voice said. "Be ready."  
  
Fray sat up in bed, sweat running down her face. She jumped when she heard a hard knock on the bedroom door. Kennedy pushed the door open slightly and peered in. Her forehead creased when she saw Fray. "Are you alright?" she asked.  
  
Fray nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
Kennedy looked at her, her eyes showing disbelief. "Sure," Kennedy said slowly. "Dawn should be here in about an hour. Get ready to go."  
  
"Oh joy," Fray groaned, falling back on her pillow. "School."  
  
Kennedy just smiled and shut the door as she left.  
  
Fray ran a hand through her hair as she sat down at the kitchen table. Her dream still haunted her vision but she quickly shook it away. She had a lot more important things to focus on right now. Like school for the most part. A lot of the things she said didn't sound stupid to any of the people she had spent so much time with but if she let something slip at school most of the kids there wouldn't understand. Kennedy sat down across from her and looked at her, her dark eyes intense. "Do you want to tell me about this dream?" Kennedy asked quietly.  
  
"It's not important," Fray said, shaking her head.  
  
Kennedy watched her. "I think it is."  
  
"It's not a big deal so just lay off," Fray snapped.  
  
Kennedy nodded and stood up. "Kennedy I'm." Fray started.  
  
Kennedy didn't look back; she just walked out the front door. "What was that all about?" Willow asked, walking into the kitchen.  
  
Fray buried her face in her hands. "I had a dream last night that sort of shook me and she was bugging me to tell her. I guess I just want to be normal for today. I don't want anything to affect me or make me say something stupid. I sort of snapped at her and I think she got mad."  
  
Willow smiled and sat down next to Fray, laying a kind hand on her shoulder. "Kennedy doesn't like it when she's helpless in a situation. In her own words she's used to getting what she wants. She wants to help you but she doesn't really know how to and it's really bugging her. I'll talk to her tonight."  
  
"Thanks," Fray said, giving Willow a quick hug.  
  
Willow smiled. "I want to help to so if you ever want to talk just let me know."  
  
"You're just curious about the dream," Fray said.  
  
Willow laughed. "You're killing me here. I feel like I'm in high school again."  
  
"Yeah, well I want to get through my first day without a hitch. I'll tell you later this evening when I get home. That way you'll have to wait."  
  
Willow smiled and held up her hands. "Fair enough."  
  
There was a knock on the door and Willow got up to answer it. "Hey Dawn," Willow said, giving the young girl a hug.  
  
Dawn walked inside and handed Fray a piece of paper. "We're both registered as Junior's so I got Principal Wood to give us most of the same classes. If you ever need to meet with me I have second period in the Library when you have a free period. We can meet in there and it should be pretty quiet."  
  
"What's this?" Fray asked, taking the paper from Dawn.  
  
"Class schedule, locker number and combination and a map of the school. Principal Wood said he'd call you down to his office during first period and go over some stuff with you."  
  
Fray nodded and smiled at Dawn. "Thanks for all the help," she said.  
  
Dawn smiled and waved a hand. "No problem. We'd better get going though if we don't want to be late." Fray nodded and hurried to her bedroom to get her backpack. She had gotten all her books from Wood the day before and they were now packed in there. The bag was heavy but Fray just threw it over her shoulder like it was no problem. For her it wasn't. Dawn was waiting for her by the door and Fray waved goodbye to Willow before leaving with Dawn.  
  
New Sunnydale High School was a sprawling brick building with a two story gymnasium and auditorium in the center and hallways weaving a spider web around the center structure. The entrance of the school was surrounded on both sides by long hallways that jutted out a few feet on either side of the glass doors. The basic prison-style windows surrounded the building head high every few feet. Cars and motorcycles were parked in the parking lot and a long bike rack was full. Some students were taking off their roller blades on the few steps that led from the sidewalk up to the entrance of the school and even more carried skateboards on their shoulders.  
  
Principal Wood was standing in the doorway watching the students walk inside and yelling the occasional hello or threatening the students that walked in with backwards caps. A small fight broke out in front of the doorway but was quickly stopped when he stepped in the way. Both of the boys glared at each other but backed up quickly. Robin waved at Dawn and Fray as they walked inside. "You're registered as Nicole Defray since we obviously can't call you Fray."  
  
"Yeah," Fray smiled. "I'm sure that would go over really well. But did it have to be Nicole. I just don't look like a Nicole."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I don't have enough silicone."  
  
Dawn laughed. "Hey be careful. With all the girls we have at the Coven I'm sure one of them is named Nicole."  
  
Fray nodded. "Good point and I don't want the slayer mob to attack me. I don't think even I could handle that."  
  
Dawn led Fray to her locker and showed her how to work the lock. "Meet me in a few minutes near the cafeteria. You can't miss it. I need to go check on something."  
  
Fray put most of her books in her locker except for the History book she would need for her morning class. She also kept out a notebook and shoved a few pens into her pocket. Fray smiled as she shut her locker. She was ready now and nothing could faze her. She was almost sure that she had been to school before since the environment was so familiar. She let out a relieved sigh and turned around. Suddenly her sigh caught in her chest. The boy walking down the hallway had the same short spiked black hair, the same strong chin, broad shoulders and most of all, the piercing blue eyes. She was staring at the boy in her dreams.  
  
"Hey," he said, as he walked to the locker next to her. "Are you new here?"  
  
"Yeah," Fray croaked, when she finally found her voice.  
  
The boy smiled at her. "Yeah, my first day was yesterday. I moved here from Kansas just last week."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said again before finally snapping out of her daze. "I just moved from LA. A messy divorce and I ended up here. I'm Nicole Defray."  
  
The boy looked down at her. "You don't look like a Nicole."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said, a small smile playing across her lips. "I get that a lot."  
  
"Sorry," the boy laughed. "Where are my manners? I'm Hunter Greenwell. It's nice to meet you Nicole. I hope I'll see you around sometime."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said again, wondering just how repetitive that word was being. "I'm sure we will, what with our lockers being together and everything."  
  
"Yeah," Hunter said, closing his locker. "Well, I'll see you later."  
  
Fray watched him walk away and she shook her head. The voice was the same too. Maybe it was him, the Shielder from her dreams. Either that or her mind was playing tricks on her. Fray started walking and tried to keep her mind off the young man. Finally she gave up and just walked towards the cafeteria to find Dawn.  
  
Fray found Dawn sitting on a bench outside the cafeteria reading a book and scribbling in a notebook. "Algebra," she said. "I was a little busy last night."  
  
"Can't we get a waver or something for crime fighting?"  
  
"Nope," Dawn said. "Only for major internal bleeding and multiple stab wounds. And even then, only occasional cases."  
  
Fray nodded and sat down next to Dawn. They young girl looked over at her and closed her notebook. "What's wrong?" Dawn asked. "You look a little shaky."  
  
"I met a boy," Fray said.  
  
Dawn smiled. "Already! Damn you work fast."  
  
Fray smiled and shook her head. "No, I know that I saw him in a dream that I had last night. Remember what Set said about me being at the head of an army with a man by my side. In my dream I was. There was a giant army that I was leading and this boy was my Shielder, whatever that was. He spoke to me and told me that he'd show me the way but didn't really say anything beyond that. That boy that I just saw was the one in my dreams. He even had the same voice."  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"Hunter Greenwell. He moved here yesterday from Kansas apparently. Do you think it could just be coincidence?"  
  
Dawn smiled sadly and shook her head. "Nothing was ever coincidence in Sunnydale and New Sunnydale is no different. He's here for a reason and we need to find out what it is. You talk to Principal Wood about him and I'll see what I can find out from some of the other kids around here. Be careful though. We still don't know if a Shielder is one of the good guys or one of the bad guys."  
  
"All I know is he was with me but that could go either way."  
  
Dawn stood up and turned back towards Fray. "If he was with you then he was a good guy."  
  
Fray nodded sadly and Dawn walked away.  
  
"You said his name was Hunter Greenwell?" Robin Wood asked, typing the name into his computer.  
  
Fray nodded. She was sitting on the other side of his desk after having been called down from her first history class. It hadn't been too bad. None of the names or places meant anything to her but she could learn quickly enough. She had had to fight to pay attention to what her teacher was saying though since her mind was still on the mysterious boy.  
  
"Here we go," Wood said, clicking on a name from a student list. "Hunter Greenwell, seventeen years old, a senior transferred her from a private school in Kansas. His father moved here since Sunnydale was his hometown and he works with a construction company. One of the ones under Xander if I'm reading this right."  
  
"Maybe we can call Xander and ask if he's got a Greenwell working for him. If not we'll know that there's something going on."  
  
Wood turned back to the computer and kept reading. "He's got a good record from his last school if the information's actually true and so far he hasn't had any trouble adjusting. All his teachers say that he's an intelligent and nice boy according to their first opinions."  
  
Fray chewed on a fingernail and kept staring at Wood. "I just can't get the nagging feeling out of my stomach."  
  
"I understand," Wood said. "I'll call Xander this afternoon and ask him to check out the name. Until then why don't you just have fun? Dawn will be in the library in a few minutes. You can wait for her there."  
  
Fray nodded and stood up. "Thanks Principal Wood. You've got a nice school here."  
  
Robin smiled. "Thank you Fray. Have a good day."  
  
Fray nodded and walked out of his office.  
  
Fray waited for Dawn at one of the round tables in the school's library. Dawn had been right, the room was deserted and the librarian was a small mousy man that spent most of his time in his office with the door shut tightly. Fray's hands were clasped together on the table while she read some of her history book. She had a lot of catching up to do. Finally the bell rang and a few seconds later Dawn walked in. She saw Fray and sat down across from her. "Did you find anything out about your mystery man?"  
  
"Yeah," Fray said, shutting her book. "Robin said that his dad worked for one of the construction teams under Xander. He's going to call and see if Xander has anyone on his team with that name. What about you?"  
  
"Besides the normal giggle girls that have commented on his total hotness a couple of boys were saying that he whizzed through the PT test yesterday. He did the mile in 7 minutes; he did 100 pushups without stopping and 250 sit ups. The boy's a machine. He's just like you."  
  
"Thanks," Fray said.  
  
"No," Dawn said, "I mean he's stronger than anyone here just like you. I'll bet you could take him on but no one else here can. I think he's the guy you're looking for."  
  
Fray shook her head. "I don't know if I'm looking for him or if I should be staying away. Just when I start to find some answers this shows up and leaves me with more questions."  
  
Dawn smiled. "Doesn't it just work that way?"  
  
Fray leaned back in her chair. "I guess he could give me answers to most of the questions that I have if he is this shielder thing but then again, they might not be the answers I want."  
  
Dawn nodded. "There's always a possibility of that."  
  
Fray exhaled and shook her head. A small smile broke out on Dawn's face. "What?" Fray asked.  
  
"You need a break. Some of the girls and I from the Coven are going to the BRONZE 2 tonight for its grand opening. I have an extra ticket if you want to come."  
  
"Sure," Fray said. "Why not?"  
  
"Great," Dawn smiled. "I've got some work to do but I'll see you at lunch. Bye."  
  
Fray waved goodbye and opened her history book again.  
  
The rest of the day when by smoothly. It was twenty minutes until the last bell rang when the phone in Fray's Algebra class started ringing. The teacher picked it up and spoke for a second before looking at Fray. "Nicole," she said after she had hung up. "Principal Wood wants to see you in his office. Something about registration."  
  
A knot formed in Fray's stomach as she stood up and gathered up her books. She started to jog slowly as soon as she got outside the classroom.  
  
Principal Wood was sitting behind his desk when she walked through the open door. She shut it when she saw the serious look on his face. "Hunter said his father's name was Mitchell Greenwell. I called his cell phone number, it was disconnected. I called Xander and there is no one working under that name in any of his companies and I also called Hunter's house. Hunter's voice is the one on the answering machine. I don't think a father exists."  
  
"Can you give me his address?"  
  
"I can give you the one that he gave me but I don't know if that's real or not."  
  
Wood pulled off a piece of paper and wrote down the number. "Be careful," he warned. "It's obvious that he wants to hide something and he might not like you sneaking around."  
  
"I have to," Fray said. "I saw him for a reason and I want to know what it is."  
  
Wood nodded. "You know that you can call me or Faith any time if you get into trouble and don't want Willow or Kennedy to find out."  
  
Fray smiled. "Thanks but I'll try to stay out of it tonight. It's just going to be a little recon."  
  
Wood smiled and waved and Fray walked out the door. Fray looked at the paper and memorized the address. She knew where the street was. She had seen it a few days ago when she had planned on leaving. As Fray threw the paper into a nearby trashcan her stomach started to unknot. It was time to find out who she was and where she came from. Finally she would get answers on her own and be able to leave her friends out of her hectic life. With that last thought the bell rang and teenagers filled the hallway. 


	8. The Bronze

Episode 8: The BRONZE  
  
Fray opened the door to the large warehouse that doubled as the operations and training center of the Coven and the home for all of the slayers. Kennedy was inside and she flashed Fray a stony glare before going back to the punching bag with renewed force. Fray started to walk in that direction before a hand caught her shoulder and spun her around. Andrew's smiling face came into view and he shook his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's been mumbling your name for the past five hours and has always followed it with about fifty curses."  
  
"Great," Fray said. "Do you think I could stay here tonight?"  
  
Andrew smiled and nodded. "If you're sure about it we've got some extra beds upstairs."  
  
"Thanks," Fray said. "I might be back tonight. I'm not in a hurry to get axed in the middle of the night."  
  
Andrew laughed. "She's a lot like Max," he said.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Max, from Dark Angel! Don't you people ever watch TV? Max was a young girl that was stronger, faster, smarter then anyone around and had amazing buns of steel. Anyway, she was the anti-hero. She was sort of thrown into the situation and she took control and she won. That's Kennedy. She's here for Willow and if she wasn't here then Kennedy wouldn't be."  
  
"So she doesn't really like the job?"  
  
"Would you?"  
  
Fray shook her head. "I don't think I could handle it but I might be stuck with no choice if I don't find out who I am. It's hard having the fate of the world resting on your shoulders and you don't even know what to do." Fray smiled again and walked away.  
  
Andrew let out a sigh and shook his head. "Tell me about it," he said quietly.  
  
Dawn was standing over in the library. She smiled and closed a big book she had been reading when she saw Fray walking over. "Hey Fray," she said, a smile crossing her face.  
  
"Hey Dawn. What are you reading?"  
  
Dawn turned the book towards Fray and she read the title. In big bold red letters on the leather cover it said FLESH EATERS AND THEIR DIETARY HABBITS. "You have got to be kidding me," Fray said, fighting to keep from laughing.  
  
"Hey," Dawn said, her eyes still smiling. "It's a newer volume. They've run out of titles by now."  
  
Fray just shook her head and took the book from Dawn. She put it down on one of the tables and turned back to her. "So, are you ready to go?"  
  
Dawn smiled and nodded. "Kennedy, Vi, Rona, Zee, Alice, and Billie are coming to."  
  
"Wait, Kennedy," Fray said, her eyes wide, "as in Willow's Kennedy. I mean I'm not lucky enough for there to be two Kennedy's am I? " Dawn laughed and shook her head. "Sorry but it's the one and the only Kennedy that's been glaring at you since you came in."  
  
Fray shook her head. "Fine," she said, taking a deep breath, "but can I at least carry a broadsword or even a mace?"  
  
Dawn laughed. "No," she said. "Don't worry about it. You two will be fine. Just get a couple of drinks in her and she'll be happy go lucky."  
  
"Even better," Fray said, "A drunk and pissed of at me Vampire Slayer."  
  
Dawn just smiled and hurried up stairs to get the rest of the girls. Soon they all came downstairs looking out of place without their normal jeans and t-shirts. Kennedy put down her boxing gloves and pulled off her sweat shirt to expose a sleeveless black top. She pulled her blue jean jacket over that though. She glanced again at Fray, this one slightly softer than all the others and walked out the door with the rest of the girls. "Have fun," Andrew called to Fray.  
  
Fray smiled and waved at him before following the rest of the girls out of the warehouse and towards the Bronze 2.  
  
The Bronze 2 was a large gray warehouse with a large sign over the front door that said The BRONZE 2 in large green letters. The doors were wide open but a pair of burly men were standing by the doorway making sure that everyone that went in had a ticket. Loud music poured out of the door and the open windows that were placed every few feet on the walls. Dawn smiled and gave Fray a ticket. "Come on," she yelled. "Relax and have a good time. Get your mind of Hunter."  
  
Fray shook her head. "That's not going to happen any time soon but this might help."  
  
Fray showed her ticket to the security guard and he waved her inside. The other slayers were already waiting inside and Fray smiled as she looked around. There was a raised stage on one side of the building, a band now playing on there surrounded by tall speakers. There was a bar on the wall to the left of the stage with a set of stairs at the end of it that led up to a little balcony with chairs and sofas clustered on it. There were a few water and coke machines and a few video games on another wall and in the center of the building there were tables and chairs in front of the dance floor.  
  
Dawn grabbed Fray's wrist and pulled her towards the dance floor. "Wait," Fray protested. "I don't think I know how to dance."  
  
Dawn just laughed and pulled her farther into the crowd of dancing people. Fray recognized a few people from school and smiled politely at them. For a few minutes while she was on that dance floor she was able to forget about what she was, able to forget about the mission, able to forget that she wasn't a normal teenager. Kenney actually smiled at her and Fray felt a warmth flood through her, they would be alright. Then suddenly, the music changed and a slow song stared. The slayers made their way off the dance floor and to a nearby table.  
  
"Having fun?" Kennedy asked.  
  
"More fun then I ever remember having," Fray said.  
  
Kennedy just smiled and then her face became serious again. "I'm sorry about this morning."  
  
Fray waved her hand. "It's already forgotten."  
  
"I guess I just want to help. I should have pushed though."  
  
Fray smiled. "You've helped more than anyone here. I owe most of the stuff I know about myself to you."  
  
Kennedy smiled and hugged the other girl. "Thanks," she said.  
  
"For what?" Fray asked.  
  
"For putting up with me."  
  
Fray just smiled. Her smiled quickly faded though when she saw Hunter walking up behind Kennedy. Kennedy followed Fray's eyes and glanced back at the boy. "Nice," she said, a smile on her face.  
  
Fray shook her head. "I'll let you know later."  
  
Kennedy tilted her head but Fray just shook hers. A smile crossed Hunter's face as he walked over to her. The rest of the table was quiet as they watched the pair. "Can I have this dance?" he asked, holding out his hand.  
  
Fray looked down at his hand and then back up at him. His blue eyes were shining even though the light was dim in the building. "Don't worry," he said, smiling. "I won't bite."  
  
Fray couldn't help herself. She took his hand and allowed herself to be led to the dance floor, the cheers of the other slayers dying behind them. "Why me?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Hunter's neck.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, his face close to hers.  
  
"I mean that out of all the girls sitting at that table you chose to dance with me even though I was the only one glaring at you."  
  
Hunter smiled. "I like a challenge."  
  
"So I've heard."  
  
"What do you mean," he said.  
  
"You finished the mile in less than 7 minutes, and all those push ups and sit ups."  
  
"It seems you've been doing your research," Hunter said, his blue eyes gazing into Fray's green ones.  
  
"What does the word shielder mean to you?" Fray asked, cutting to the point.  
  
Fray saw his smiled falter for a second and if she hadn't been looking at him she wouldn't have been sure. He plastered it back on his face though. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
Fray smiled and loosened her arms. "Your father doesn't work at any construction company around here. I checked your address out too on my way home this afternoon. That house has been deserted for at least a month due to faulty gas pipes. Your phone number does reach an answering machine with your voice on it though so you do have some kind of house. Just not somewhere that you want anyone to know about."  
  
Hunter took a step back and let his arms fall. "That's classified information," he said.  
  
"So are my dreams," Fray snapped, "but you were there for some reason."  
  
"I guess I'm just irresistible," he said.  
  
Fray looked like she was about to smack him. "You damn well had better cut the act. You can give me answers and I know it so if you don't want to die really quickly then you'd better drop the dumb act."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hunter said, his blue eyes had turned panicky.  
  
"I'm a fader," Fray shouted. "That should mean something to you."  
  
Hunter clapped his hand over her mouth but it was too late. A shotgun went off from one corner and a dozen blasts echoed it. Everyone hit the ground except for Hunter, his hand still over Fray's mouth, and the other slayers. They were all to busy looking for the attackers. Finally they saw them. A dozen men were standing around dressed all in black with hoods over their heads. "Well," Kennedy said. "Security here sure sucks."  
  
The men looked around and finally their eyes clapped on Fray and Hunter. "They're Timers, the opposite of Faders. Basically they want to make sure that whatever we're trying to change to save the future is changed in their favor. And now they know who you are and they won't believe that you forgot your mission," Hunter whispered in her ear.  
  
Fray had to keep herself from going limp with relief. "So what do we do?" she asked.  
  
"If I get the guns you'll have to take care of them. I won't be much good after that. I'll meet you in the school parking lot when you're done here."  
  
Fray nodded. "Fine, but if you run on me I swear I'll hunt you down and kick your ass for the next fifty years."  
  
Hunter nodded and looked down at her. "Stay safe Fader," he said.  
  
"In life and death," Fray said, echoing his words in the dream.  
  
He looked at her for a second and finally let her go. He took a deep breath and suddenly a light red glow seemed to come from him. He let out a yell and suddenly became a blur of red light. He seemed to bounce off the walls as he ran to each of the masked men and grabbed their guns out of their hands with blinding speed. Soon all of them were unarmed and the red blur ran out the door. "After him," one of the men yelled.  
  
Three of the Timers made a move towards the door but suddenly it shut and Kennedy slid the lock into place. "I don't think so," she said, a sly smile crossing her face. "Since you guys obviously aren't vampires and we don't seem to have any swords or crossbows with us, it seems that we'll have to settle for an old-fashioned ass-kicking."  
  
The other slayers jumped up. Dawn even balled her hands into fists. Fray smiled at Kennedy and looked at the masked fighters that had grouped towards the stage. "Sounds good to me," she said.  
  
The masked men crouched in a martial arts fighting stance and Fray could tell that they were no novices. She balled her fists and the other slayers came and stood beside her. The masked men were the first to attack. They came at the girls all together. Fray stopped a kick from one of them and countered with a punch to the kidneys. The she picked him up, his left leg over her shoulder, and tossed him towards one of the games. He slammed into the machine and disappeared in a bright puff of smoke.  
  
She turned just in time to catch a fist across her cheek that brought tears of pain to her eyes. She caught the fist the second time it came around and broke the man's arm with a flick of her wrist. He let out a scream of pain that sounded more mechanical than human and Fray picked him up by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into a nearby wall before throwing him through a closed window.  
  
Kennedy hit one of the fighters in the chest with a strong sidekick. She moved to make another one but was caught off guard when another of the fighters knocked her feet out from under here with a sweep kick. Kennedy fell hard onto the ground and the breath was knocked out from her lungs. She quickly rolled to one side as one of the Timers jumped and slammed a knee into the ground where she had just been. Kennedy flipped backwards and wrapped her legs around the fighter's neck and twisted. With a sudden crack he was still for a second before disappearing.  
  
The other slayers were involved in their own battles. Rona helped grab one of the creatures off of Billie's back and slammed it into a chair. Zee cracked one in the area of its nose with the palm of her hand. Vi helped Dawn with one of them, her arm still in a sling from the arrow wound. Dawn dodged a punch and Vi helped with a sidekick to the beast's chest before Dawn rose and hit it with a strong uppercut. Alice grabbed one of the creatures and sent it flying behind the bar. Finally they were all gone. Fray looked around and pointed to each of the slayers. "How many did you get?"  
  
They all said their numbers and Fray quickly added them up. "That's only eleven," she said.  
  
Then suddenly Kennedy tapped heron the shoulder and pointed towards the door. It was hanging loosely on its hinges. Someone had broken it down. "Hunter," Fray yelled.  
  
"Where is he?" Kennedy said, stopping her with a strong arm on her wrist.  
  
"The school parking lot. I have to go now." Kennedy let her go and Fray ran out the door. Kennedy took a deep breath and waved to the other girls. "Come on guys. Let's go bail them out."  
  
Fray could feel her legs burning and her lungs gasping for air but she ignored both as her feet continued to hit the pavement. She could feel moisture running down her face, a combination of sweat and tears. She had just found some of her answers in this boy. She wasn't about to loose him now. It was more than that though. Even though they had only met mere hours ago, she felt connected to him. And it wasn't just the dream.  
  
Finally the school came into view and Fray felt herself going faster as she heard voices in the parking lot. "Leave me alone," Hunter yelled, his voice sounding drained.  
  
Fray stopped when the sight came into view. One of the masked fighters was standing there with two shotguns leveled at an exhausted Hunter. The young man was lying on the pavement, his chest heaving and sweat stuck his shirt to his chest. "If you kill me more will come. We will succeed," the Timer said.  
  
"And if you kill me, she'll still find her way. She's stronger than you could ever imagine. Killing me won't do a damn thing except piss her off. Have you ever met a pissed off Fader?"  
  
The Timer shook his head and Hunter made a show of inhaling even though it made his face contort in pain. "Pray that you never do."  
  
Fray walked into view and stood behind the Timer. "If you never want to see a pissed off Fader I suggest you don't turn around."  
  
Hunter looked over the Timer's shoulder and he convulsed in pain again. "Are you alright," Fray asked, her brow knitting with worry.  
  
"Yeah," he gasped. "I'm fine." He coughed once and spit a clot of blood onto the sidewalk. "I'm prefect."  
  
The Timer turned around and a smile seemed to stretch his mask across his face. "Fader," he said.  
  
"The name's Fray," she said.  
  
The Timer shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You look the same dead no matter what your name is."  
  
"Then I won't ask for yours," Fray snapped.  
  
She took a few running steps before she leapt off the ground. Her foot struck his shoulder right as both shotguns went off. Fray felt hot pieces of metal searing their way into her arms and shoulders. She even felt a few enter her chest and her legs. She ignored the pain and picked herself off the ground. She could feel liquid running down her arms and off her fingertips and she didn't need to look to see that it was blood. She grabbed the Timer. "We'll be back," he gasped as she heaved him off the ground.  
  
Fray nodded. "Then we'll be ready for you. You tell whoever you're working for that if he doesn't leave me the hell alone he'll be dead by my own hands. None of you masked freaks can stop me."  
  
Then she slammed him head first into the ground and he disappeared. Fray ran quickly over to Hunter's side and helped him up. "You're hurt," she said.  
  
"It's nothing," he said, trying to push her away. "I just used my energy running out of their. A Shielder's power comes from a small cell of magic that's held in his chest. It can run out though and I sort of used it all back there."  
  
Fray nodded before suddenly dropping to the pavement beside him. "Fray," he yelled, "what's wrong."  
  
Fray waved him away. "It's nothing," she gasped. "I think I'm just dying." 


	9. The Shielder

Episode 9: The Shielder  
  
Hunter leaned over the unconscious form on the concrete. Blood was pouring out of a dozen wounds all over her body and her face was pale, covered in sweat. He cursed his limited power; he knew that in this state he couldn't even pick her up. He looked around, hoping to find help. Suddenly he heard pounding footsteps and when he looked a large group of Slayers rounded the corner with Kennedy in the lead. When she saw him leaning over Fray's form she put on a burst of speed and rushed ahead of the other girls. "What in the hell happened?" she asked, skidding to a stop next to Hunter.  
  
"One of the Timers came after me. So did Fray and she was shot."  
  
"What about those Timer creatures?"  
  
"They're gone for now but they'll be back. They won't stop until she goes back to her own time."  
  
Kennedy picked up Fray in her arms, blood covering her shirt. Hunter tried to get up but he had to wait until Vi and Rona got there to help him. "I don't have enough power left to heal her and without healing she'll die," Hunter said, leaning on the two Slayers.  
  
Kennedy started walking towards her apartment. "I have someone that can help. You guys help him. I'll go ahead. Alice and Zee, you come with me. Take him back to the Coven and we'll send news."  
  
"No," Hunter said, fighting against the Slayers. "I go where she goes. I'm a Shielder; it's my job to protect her."  
  
Kennedy turned on him, drops of blood flying off Fray like bullets. "And you've done a bang-up job so far. It's our turn now. You're going to wait for her where they take you and if you don't you'll have a hundred really pissed off girls on your ass. That's not something you want."  
  
Hunter nodded. "You're right but if you hurt her, I'll kill you."  
  
"Fair enough," Kennedy muttered turning back away from him.  
  
Kennedy walked down the street towards her apartment. Alice and Zee surveyed the area, their eyes alert and watching for more of the masked creatures. Kennedy noticed that Zee was carrying a broken table leg in one hand. "Zee," Kennedy called to the girl next to her, "run ahead and let Willow know what's going on. Tell her to get ready for Fray."  
  
Zee nodded and ran in the direction of the apartment. Kennedy got there a few minutes later and Willow was waiting at the front door. Zee was standing next to her. The young Slayer's eyes were still alert and surveying the property surrounding the building. "Come on," Willow said, opening the door, "take her to her bedroom and then put a pot of water on to boil."  
  
Kennedy jogged up the stairs and Zee came behind with a roll of paper towels wiping up drops of blood. Xander was standing in the doorway of the apartment and he stepped aside to allow Kennedy and Fray inside. "Oh God," he moaned when he saw the shape in Kennedy's arms. "Will she be alright?" he asked, stopping Willow as she walked by.  
  
"I don't know," Willow answered, her dark eyes solemn.  
  
Xander followed her into Fray's bedroom and watched as Willow knelt beside the bed. Kennedy looked back once before running to the kitchen and putting a pot of water on the stove to boil. She was back in the room in no time though. With Alice and Zee also inside, the room was becoming quite crowded. Willow put her hands over Fray's stomach and touched the skin lightly with the tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes lightly and when she opened them again they had turned bright blue. A pale light seemed to radiate around her. Kennedy had only seen that the once, when she had activated all the Slayers. She knew that she must be drawing amazing power to heal Fray.  
  
"Come on," Kennedy heard herself whisper.  
  
Xander moved a little closer and finally Willow let her hands drop. "I don't think I can do it. I could heal the external wounds but there's so much internal damage that I'd have to make new organs. I don't think I can do that. I don't have enough power."  
  
Kennedy knelt beside Willow and took the young woman's hand in her own. "Try again," she said, squeezing it tightly.  
  
Willow looked at Kennedy, her eyes opening wide. Finally she smiled lightly and nodded. "I'm sorry about this," Willow hissed between clenched teeth.  
  
"Sorry about what?" Kennedy asked.  
  
Then she got her answer. A wave of needles washed through her, pricking her skin and making her eyes water with pain. Then she felt a wave of cold wash through her and drain away. She slumped on the bed, all her energy gone. She could see a brighter glow though, coming from Willow.  
  
Kennedy forced her eyes open and she pushed herself up on the bed. She felt Xander's hands on her shoulders, holding her up. She saw Willow, her hand still gripping Kennedy's tightly. Her other hand was extended over Fray and her eyes were shut tightly. Suddenly the glow left and Willow opened her eyes. "It's as good as I can do," she said slowly, her blue eyes tired.  
  
"The bullets are out," she said, turning over her hand and dropping about twenty little pellets of metal out onto the bed. "The internal wounds are gone but she still had about five external ones to heal. Xander, Zee and Alice, I'll leave you to take care of those. Make sure they're clean and bandaged well. Make sure that she's comfortable too. We won't be any good to anyone until tomorrow afternoon so if you can keep an eye on her until then, that would be great."  
  
"No problem Will," Xander said, helping her up. "We'll take care of everything."  
  
Willow smiled at him. "Come on Kennedy," she said, their hands still clasped together. "Let's go have a cup of tea and then go to bed."  
  
Kennedy smiled and forced strength into her body so she could help Willow out of the room. She felt drained and weak and like she had said the first time, if hurt. But this time Kennedy was welcoming the hurt because it meant that she had helped Willow. That was more important to her than anything. Kennedy helped Willow into the kitchen and sat her down at the table before taking care of the tea. She smiled as she sat down next to Willow. Willow took a drink of her tea and laid her head on Kennedy's shoulder. "Don't," Kennedy said, her voice soft. "If you fall asleep I don't want to wake you up but I don't think I could carry you into the bedroom."  
  
Willow smiled and lifted her head reluctantly. "Fair enough, but drink fast or I might fall asleep in my cup."  
  
Kennedy smiled and downed her drink in three big gulps and then waited for Willow. She left the cups on the table. She'd get them tomorrow. Kennedy put her arm around Willow's waist and helped the young woman into the bedroom and then helped her change into her night clothes. "Thanks," Willow said. Kennedy climbed into bed beside her and smiled. "For what?" "For helping me save her life." Kennedy kissed Willow lightly on the forehead. "Anytime."  
  
Xander shook his head and put down the novel. Zee and Alice were spread out on the sofas in the living room and Xander was stuck with the chair in the bedroom once again. Fray was looking better. The bleeding had stopped and she had awakened long enough to drink some water so her color was starting to come back. Xander heard some noises from the living room and a second later Zee was standing in the doorway, her eyes tired but still alert. "I can't sleep," she said. "I'm going to go back to the Coven and let Dawn and the others know what happened. I'll send Rona and Vi over here as soon as I get back. You need someone to relieve you in a few hours."  
  
Xander smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm too old to be pulling these all nighters."  
  
Zee smiled and walked out of the room. Xander heard the front door shut a few seconds later. He heard Alice turn over and then he didn't hear anything else for a while. Xander stood up and walked around the room for a few minutes before sitting back down in the chair, the though of going into the kitchen and making a cup of coffee for himself was running through his head when he heard a key turn and the front door opened. Dawn popped her head inside and smiled at him. "You're relief crew is here," she said.  
  
Xander yawned and smiled at the same time. "Thanks," he said. "I'd better get back home. I have a meeting to go to in about four hours and If I don't get at least a little sleep I'll look like a zombie."  
  
Dawn nodded and stepped out of the way as he walked into the living room. Alice, Rona, and Vi were all standing around a bag of weapons that one of the girls had brought. Xander saw Vi pull out a crossbow and he was sure he saw a battle axe somewhere in there. A young man was also sitting in one of the chairs and he waved lightly at Xander when he walked by. "Who are you?" Xander asked, doing a double take.  
  
"I'm Hunter," he said, extending his hand for Xander to shake. "I'm Fray's Shielder. It's a long story that I'm sure you're not in the mood to hear right now but don't worry. I've been checked out."  
  
Dawn walked over and put her hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "We grilled him for over an hour. He's one of the good guys."  
  
Xander just nodded and walked out the door, his head still bobbing sleepily. "Is she alright?" Hunter asked as soon as the door had shut.  
  
Dawn nodded. "She's a little bandaged up which means that Willow couldn't heal everything but she's not bleeding anymore and she looks better. She won't be in the ring for about a week but besides that she's fine. Willow would kill herself trying to help Fray." "Why?" Hunter asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.  
  
"Because she likes Fray. They're friends."  
  
"Sorry," Hunter said, his eyes softening. "I don't understand friendship, compassion, love, anger, hate, anything like that. Human emotions elude me even though I can copy them."  
  
Dawn sat down and Hunter sat down next to her. "So what are you if you're not human?"  
  
Hunter smiled. "I'm human in every way but my upbringing. I am not born, I am made. Shielders are created after Faders are found. In my time, Faders are discovered at birth. Their genetic makeup allows them to travel through time without having a huge effect on it and without suffering side effects. Faders are like shadows in time, you can see it but you can't touch it and you don't notice it after a while.  
  
"Most people, if you sent them back in time for even a second, the whole future would be changed. Faders are shadows, the past doesn't register that they exist. I was created to protect her from people that want to replicate her genetic makeup so they can mass produce Faders. My powers of healing and strength can only work on her so I can not be captured and put to other uses by people that would choose to hurt her. I was made in a laboratory though and raised there until I was sixteen. I was only out in the world for five months before they called on me to come here. Most Faders never even meet their Shielder because they don't need them."  
  
Dawn nodded and leaned back, taking it all in. "Did they tell you what her mission was?"  
  
Hunter shook his head. "No," he said. "They gave me clues but my mind can be cracked and secrets can be found. I can only show her the way and pray that she will remember on her own."  
  
Dawn was silent for a moment and then she looked back at Hunter. "You care for her don't you?"  
  
Hunter started and turned towards her. "I don't know what you're talking about," he snapped.  
  
"I saw how you looked at her at the Bronze," Dawn said, a smile curving her lips. "You weren't looking at her like a job."  
  
"I can't care about a Fader, it's forbidden."  
  
Dawn smiled. "Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?"  
  
Hunter shook his head. "Never heard of it."  
  
Dawn sighed. "Look, just because you can't love her, well it doesn't mean that you don't love her."  
  
Hunter stood up and walked around for a few seconds. "A Shielder has never been sent on a mission and come back from it. It's a one time deal; I can't survive the trip back to my time. Even if I do care about her, I won't put her through that kind of pain."  
  
"Damn," Dawn said. "That sucks."  
  
Hunter laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, just a little bit. I've never met Fray before today in school. I just feel drawn to her. It doesn't mean that I have feelings for her."  
  
"Hey," Dawn said, putting up her hands. "You're the one that's still talking about her."  
  
Hunter smiled and sat back down. "Good point."  
  
"We should make you an honorary Slayer," Dawn said.  
  
Hunter looked at her. "Aren't all Slayers' girls?"  
  
Dawn smiled. "Alright then," she said. "How about a Watcher?"  
  
Hunter nodded. "Much better," he said.  
  
Vi looked around, tucked a knife in her pocket and walked into Fray's room. Hunter started to lunge forward but was stopped by a hand on his wrist. Dawn was looking at him, amusement in her eyes. "It's hear turn to watch Fray. Calm down and get some rest. You're wound up tighter then a top."  
  
"A what?" Hunter asked.  
  
"Don't look at me," Dawn said. "I'm just saying it. I didn't say that I knew what it meant."  
  
Bright sunlight was streaming in the window when Fray finally woke up. She could feel some bandages on her left arm and on her shoulders but besides that she was only sore from head to toe. She turned and saw Hunter sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Vi was spread out on the floor and Fray saw through the open door that Dawn was sitting in the living room and reading and Rona was still asleep on the sofa.  
  
Fray quietly got out of bed, ignoring her protesting back and arms. She hissed in pain as the covers brushed one of her still healing wounds. She could tell that Willow had healed her, there was a slight tingle in her stomach and she felt stronger than she should have with the kind of blood that smeared her clothes. She walked quietly out of the room, stepping lightly over Vi, and tapped Dawn lightly on the shoulder.  
  
Dawn jumped out of her chair and smiled, hugging Fray tightly. Fray hugged her back, once again ignoring the pain. She broke the embrace and put a finger on her lips before walking into the kitchen. Dawn followed as quietly as she could. Rona turned over but didn't wake up. "How are you feeling?" Dawn asked when they reached the kitchen.  
  
"I'm fine," Fray said, cleaning the tea cups off the table from the night before. "How's Willow?"  
  
"Pretty tired," Dawn said. "She had to have Kennedy's help with the spell last night. You were in pretty bad shape."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said, moving her shoulders. "I can still feel it."  
  
"Hunter's been here all night. I had to force him to go to sleep. I thought I was going to have to give him something but he finally dozed off in the chair about two hours ago. He was crazy at the Coven, pacing up and down the training mat. He punched a hole through one of our bags."  
  
Fray stifled a laugh. "Sorry about that," she said. "I would have been there if I could but I was tied up."  
  
"That's alright, but you get to take care of your friends next time. He almost took off Faith's head when she suggested that both of you were actually working for the hooded guys and were using them as a decoy."  
  
Fray shook her head. "You'd think she would have learned by now."  
  
"Hey," Dawn said. "Faith is more loyal than anyone I know but you have to earn that. You have but he hasn't."  
  
Fray just nodded. "How about Kennedy?"  
  
"She's just as tired as Willow. She carried you all the way home last night and then helped Willow with the spell."  
  
Fray opened her eyes in surprise. "Kennedy carried me home?"  
  
Dawn smiled. "She had to or Hunter would have been stumbling down the street dragging you behind him. I could have poked him and he would have fallen over but he was still standing up to Kennedy. He's a brave guy. He cares about you but well."  
  
Dawn took the next few minutes to tell Fray the story about Shielders and the future and everything like that. She told Fray everything about the conversation she had had with Hunter, everything but the part about this trip being a one time deal. Fray just shook her head when she was done with it all. "That's a lot to take in," she said.  
  
Dawn nodded and smiled lightly. "Yeah, it just finally sunk in this morning."  
  
Fray looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost nine o'clock in the morning and she was ready to go. "I'm going to go take a shower and change out of these," she said, pointing to her bloodstained clothes. "We'll talk more when I get out."  
  
Dawn smiled. "You just want to find out more about Hunter."  
  
Fray smiled. "I can find out about Hunter on my own. I need you to tell me more about the Shielder. There's a difference."  
  
Dawn smiled. "Yeah, you have a crush on Hunter and you haven't decided about the Shielder yet."  
  
Fray flashed Dawn a smiled over her shoulder and it said everything that needed to be said.  
  
Exactly. 


	10. The First Clue

Episode 10: The First Clue  
  
Hunter woke with a start and jumped out of the chair that he had fallen asleep in nearly stepping on Vi's head. She shot up and grabbed his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground with a heavy thud. "What in the hell?" Hunter yelled, slapping her hands off his leg.  
  
"Sorry," Vi said, the apology not reaching her voice. "But be careful. You could have stepped on me."  
  
"Whatever?" Hunter mumbled.  
  
He jumped back up and looked at the empty bed. It was smeared with blood and he could only figure the worst. But Dawn had said that she would be alright. The Witch was supposed to have healed her. Hunter almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a laugh coming from the doorway. He turned around and saw Fray, soaking wet and wrapped in a big bath towel, with a big smile plastered on her face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."  
  
Hunter shook his head. "You weren't here and I didn't expect you to get well that quickly. I thought you might have." he trailed off and Fray's expression lightened slightly.  
  
"You can't get rid of me that easily," she said, a smile on her face.  
  
Hunter nodded. Vi just smiled at her as she slid out of the door. "You need to bandage your wounds again," he said, sitting down on the end of the bed.  
  
Fray took a few steps forward and moved out of the way of the door. "Then get out of my room so I can get dressed and I'll get Dawn to do it."  
  
Fray was surprised to see Hunter blush slightly when he realized she was actually naked under that towel. He swallowed hard and looked back up at her. "Sorry about that," he said.  
  
"How are you doing?" Fray asked, walking over to the closet and opening the door.  
  
"I'm better now that I've gotten some sleep. After I get something to eat I'll be perfect."  
  
Fray nodded. "Well, get out of here and when I'm dressed and bandaged I'll take you out for breakfast."  
  
Hunter nodded and hurried out of the room. Fray just smiled as she shut the door behind him. A few seconds later she called for Dawn and she helped Fray bandage her arms and her shoulder. "I look like a mummy," Fray joked, looking at her arms and back.  
  
"Hey, a few more minutes last night and you would have looked like a corpse."  
  
Fray nodded and pulled on her shirt. "I'm taking Hunter out for breakfast so we'll have a chance to talk. Do you know of any good places around?"  
  
"Try Sunny Side on Main Street. It's a nice place for a good price. They've got normal breakfast foods and stuff like that. Do you have any money?"  
  
"Kennedy gave me a hundred bucks for general spending but I wouldn't let her buy my school stuff so I'll need to find a job pretty soon."  
  
"Go check out the Bronze," Dawn suggested, helping Fray pull her other shoe out from under her bed. "I heard they're looking for someone to work there. You'd probably man the bar or something like that, but still. It might be a good place to start."  
  
Fray nodded. "That's not a bad idea. As long as they don't remember that I was the reason that their club got trashed last night."  
  
Dawn shook her head. "People around here forget things like that really easily. Don't worry about it."  
  
Fray stood up and stretched her arms, grimacing as the wounds pulled in protest. She opened the door and walked out, Dawn following closely behind. Hunter was sitting in a nearby chair. Rona was up now and she was involved in a conversation with Alice and Vi. Hunter jumped up when Fray walked out. "Ready to go?" Fray asked.  
  
Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. Fray waved to Dawn and gave her a message to let Kennedy and Willow know where she had gone and that she'd be back later that evening. Hunter waited until they got on the street to start up another conversation. "So," he said. "How long have you been with them?"  
  
"Just over a week I think," she said. "It seems like longer though because I've been kind of busy."  
  
"What's been going on?" Hunter asked.  
  
Fray took a deep breath and launched into the whole story. About the Slayer Killer and how she had been found. She told him about Set and the Moot and everything else. She told him about school and about her dreams and her training. She told him everything that she could remember, the words pouring from her like water. She told him more then she had told anyone and he listened quietly as they walked. Finally they reached the restaurant and they chose a small booth in the far corner of the room so they could talk quietly.  
  
"So what's your story? Dawn told me all the details about you being a Shielder but what about the person you."  
  
"Well," Hunter said. "I got the news that I was going to have to go after you about five days ago. They realized that you had lost your memory. I spent about twelve hours being briefed on my mission, your location, your situation, everything like that. Then I was given money and sent here. I notified a contact and he got me an apartment on the edge of town. I found out where you were and figured that if I couldn't get close to you through school then I could at least get close to Dawn or some of the others and then talk to you. I didn't know how much you knew so I couldn't just go up to you and say, 'Hey Fader, I'm your Shielder, let's go save the world.'"  
  
Fray smiled and nodded. "Good point."  
  
Their conversation died as a waitress came over and took their order. "Can I borrow a pen?" Fray asked before the waitress left.  
  
She smiled and pulled one out of her apron. "Thank you," Fray said.  
  
She pulled a napkin towards her and used the pen to write some of the elaborate characters that she had shown to Kennedy during her training. "What's this?" she asked, pushing the napkin towards Hunter.  
  
He took it and smiled. "Your native language actually. Faders aren't taught to speak until they're eight years old. Your trainers think that it's better if you learn to listen first. You communicate with these. They're characters that mean words and feelings. They can't be broken because they don't have a pattern and there are multiple characters to mean each word."  
  
"That's different," Fray said, her brow furrowing. "I'm almost glad that I don't live there now. It sounds like I was treated more like a thing then a person."  
  
Hunter smiled. "You were treated as more than a person because you were more important. I five million births there is only one Fader and our future is based on you. You patrol the past and keep it safe so no one from the future comes back and destroys it. Right now though, you are on a retrieval mission."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I have no idea but I'm supposed to help you find out. We need to go on a field trip this afternoon. We can take my car but I'm supposed to take you to meet a guy named Angel in LA. He was a friend of the original Slayer's."  
  
"Alright," Fray said. "But we'll have to go back to the apartment first and let Kennedy and Willow know that I might not be back until tomorrow."  
  
Hunter nodded. "You're supposed to ask him something about the battle with The First; some kind of evil that destroyed Sunnydale last year. Apparently it's got something to do with that battle."  
  
Fray nodded and took her elbows off the table as the waitress came back with their food. Fray thanked her and handed her the pen back. They spent the rest of the morning talking about their New Sunnydale experiences. "So how did you get into the Bronze opening last night?" Fray asked.  
  
"A friend of mine is a bartender there. I think she's got a crush on me but she got me a ticket."  
  
"Do you think you could talk to her about getting me a job? Just for the time being but I want to get enough money to pay Kennedy back for the loan."  
  
"Not a problem," Hunter said, taking a drink of orange juice. "I can go talk to her when you go to tell the others about LA. It'll take about four hours to get there the way that I drive. You can meet me at my apartment at one this afternoon."  
  
Fray nodded and checked her watch. They finished their meal and Fray paid for the breakfast. Hunter borrowed the waitress's pen again and wrote his address on a napkin. "It's pretty close to the edge of town but it should only be about thirty minutes from your place to there. You might want to pack a bag in case we have to stay the night. I have an address to meet this guy at."  
  
"How do we get him to believe our story?"  
  
"Apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a hundred years ago. We're supposed to give him this," Hunter said, pulling a ring out of his pocket. The gold band had a yin-yang made out of diamonds and emeralds on it. He pocketed it again. "He should remember it and then he should tell us what we want. If he doesn't then I have another lead to go on. This one's in Scotland though and I'd rather go to LA."  
  
Fray nodded. "I can understand that. I'll see you back at your place later."  
  
They parted in front of the restaurant and Fray jogged her way back home. When she got there Dawn and Kennedy were sitting on the sofa. The door to Willow's bedroom was open and Fray could see her still getting ready inside. Rona, Alice, and Vi were gone. Dawn smiled when she walked inside. "So, how did it go?"  
  
"Great," Fray joked. "He even gave me his address and we're eloping this afternoon."  
  
Dawn laughed but stopped when she saw that Fray was only half joking. "What is it?"  
  
"We're supposed to go meet this guy in LA. It was one of the contacts that Hunter was given before he left. What does the name Angel mean to any of you?"  
  
Willow stuck her head out of the bedroom and smiled. "You're joking right?" she asked.  
  
Fray shook her head. "We're supposed to go and ask him about the battle with the First because apparently he's had a run in with a Fader before about a century ago."  
  
Willow smiled slightly and pointed to the sofa. "Sit down, this might take a while."  
  
Fray sat down next to Kennedy and Willow sat down across from them. It took a full half hour of Willow talking to tell Angel's whole story from Vampire to soul to Buffy to LA and then back to Sunnydale and then back to LA and all the details in between. Fray just smiled as Willow finished the story. "At least he'll know about the battle," Fray said.  
  
Willow just looked at her like she was crazy. "Just be careful," Willow cautioned. "He tends to get snippy when you bring Buffy into the story."  
  
Fray nodded. "It's got nothing to do with her but she'll have to come up at some point. I mean, she did sort of save the world."  
  
"With Spike," Dawn whispered.  
  
Fray looked down at her hands and let out a deep breath. "We should be back tonight but if it takes too long we'll stop at a hotel and I'll call you all. At the latest we'll be back tomorrow."  
  
"Be careful Fray," Kennedy cautioned. "You don't know what you'll find out."  
  
Fray turned toward her, her green eyes severe. "You don't have to worry about me going over to the bad side no matter what I find out. I'll kill myself before I betray you. Any of you," Fray added, her eyes scanning over Dawn and Willow.  
  
Dawn nodded. "I sent away to Giles a little while ago on any information about Faders. He should have gotten back to me by the time you get back so we can pool his information with whatever Angel gives you. Maybe that will get you even closer."  
  
Fray thanked her before walking into her room to pack a bag. When she came back out Dawn and Kennedy were in the kitchen making lunch. Willow was still sitting down on the sofa. She looked tired even after a good night of sleep. Fray put down her bag and went to sit next to her. "Thank you for everything you did last night. I'm in your debt forever for that."  
  
Willow smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Just save the world."  
  
Fray smiled. "That's it?" she joked. "Couldn't you just ask for a new CD or something like that?"  
  
"What can I say? I'm a high maintenance friend."  
  
Fray gave her a hug and picked up her bag. She yelled a goodbye to Dawn and Kennedy before she left and then walked out of the apartment.  
  
It took her a little longer than she expected to get to Hunter's apartment since she got lost more than once. All the streets on the outside of town formed a spider web of a maze with dead ends and name changes ever block or two. It took her almost an hour to get there. It was noon when Fray knocked on his door. The apartment was at the top floor of a slightly shabby looking building. It must have been one of the government erected buildings that had been made to house construction workers and families while the rest of the city had been built. They had now been turned into apartments.  
  
Hunter opened the door and Fray noticed that he was attempting to conceal a long knife behind his back. He put it down on a small table when he saw who it was. "You're early," he said, standing out of the way.  
  
Fray walked inside. "It's not like I have a huge number of people to say goodbye to," she said, looking around.  
  
The apartment was small but in good condition. There was a flat screen TV on one wall with a sofa across from it. One door went into a bedroom with a low double bed and a chest at the end. It was open now, an array of weapons spilling from it. There was also a kitchen with a small table in the middle and a bathroom next to the bedroom. Hunter shut the door as she walked inside and took her bag. He laid it on the sofa and smiled as he turned around. "It's not much," he said. "But it's good enough for a bachelor like me."  
  
Fray nodded and smiled. "It's nice," she said finally.  
  
"I talked to my friend at the Bronze and she said you could start on Monday. You'll work from six to ten during the week and from six to midnight on Friday and Saturday. You're off on Sunday. You'll get four fifty an hour and get to keep any tips you make."  
  
"Thanks Hunter," Fray said. "I should be able to make back the money that Kennedy gave me pretty soon."  
  
Hunter grabbed his bag out of his bedroom and handed Fray a long knife in a scabbard. "You'd better keep that at your waist. We don't know if we'll run into any of those masked guys on the way there."  
  
Fray tucked it into her pants and then picked up her bag and followed him outside. Hunter locked up his apartment behind her and then walked her outside to the parking lot behind a cluster of apartments. His car was an old Ford Mustang. Probably six years old if not more, in bright red, but it looked good and Fray smiled when he sped out of the parking lot. The engine still had a lot of get up and go.  
  
"So," Hunter said when they got out of New Sunnydale. "Tell me about your new friends."  
  
Fray detected a hint of something in his voice but she couldn't place it. So she took her time and told him about Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, Xander, Wood and even Faith. Hunter smiled when she got to her description of Faith. "So you all are that close though. So you won't mind that I called her a psycho bitch when we first met?"  
  
Fray smiled. "I don't mind, but she's alright when you get to know her."  
  
Hunter chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."  
  
The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence. Fray looked out her window at the world passing by, a nervous knot in her stomach. She was coming closer to finding out where she was from and who she was. "Here we are," Hunter finally said. Fray followed his finger to a group of skyscrapers in the distance. "LA." 


	11. LA

Episode 11: LA  
  
The building that Hunter stopped his car in front of was a large stone apartment building. A large sign over the door announced it as the Tower Apartments. "He's in number 508," Hunter said.  
  
Fray got out of the car and started to walk up the steps and through the door. She was stopped by a young doorman in a long red coat and white gloves. "May I help you?" he asked, his nose wrinkling.  
  
"We're looking for the young man in apartment 508. Feel free to call him and tell him that Locius sent us. He'll be sure to let us in."  
  
The doorman ducked inside for a second and Fray saw him picking up the phone through the thick glass doors. He spoke for a few seconds before nodding and hanging up the phone. He walked back outside and opened the door for them. Fray and Hunter walked inside and made a beeline straight for the elevators in the back of the main lobby. Hunter pressed the button and gripped the hilt of his knife that was tucked under his jacket. "What are you doing?" Fray hissed.  
  
"His last run in with a Fader wasn't exactly a good one. He had just gotten his soul back a few years before and this Fader forced him to relive all of his most horrible moments. It was to make him be good, to make him feel for people. If he hadn't then he wouldn't have helped Buffy. Everything we do has a direct impact on the future even if it takes hundreds of years to show it."  
  
Fray nodded. "Cool," she said.  
  
"Sure, if you want to call it that," Hunter said.  
  
Fray just gave him a look and he started to open his mouth to say something else when there was a bell and the doors slid open. "We're here," he said instead.  
  
The door of room 508 was already open and Angel was standing there, a sword in his hand. He looked at both of them, the dislike on his face not even bothered to be covered up. Hunter pulled the ring out of his pocket and tossed it to him. "We need to talk."  
  
Fray looked out from behind Hunter's shoulder and watched as Angel looked at the ring then looked back at Hunter. She could see that this wouldn't get them anywhere fast. "Willow says hi," Fray said.  
  
"What?" Angel said, looking up from the ring.  
  
"Willow, you know, the Wicca? She said to tell you hi."  
  
Angel looked back at the ring then back at Fray and stepped aside. "Come on it," he said.  
  
Fray walked in first, Hunter following close behind, his blue eyes scanning the room carefully. It was like he was looking for traps. The apartment was really nice and Fray could tell that it hadn't been designed by the brooding figure that was now putting his sword back into a case on the wall. "So," he said. "Which one's the Fader?"  
  
"I am," Fray said, standing up. "My name's Fray."  
  
Angel scoffed. "You're all the same to me. Manipulating people for your own uses."  
  
"Well," Fray said. "It is kind of for the greater good."  
  
Angel sat down and looked at both of them. "And who's he?"  
  
"My Shielder," Fray supplied.  
  
Angel just nodded. "So what happened that you needed a Shielder?"  
  
"I forgot why I was here. Something happened when I was traveling. I lost my memory but gained power. They had to send him back here to make sure I got the job done. They couldn't tell Hunter the whole story though in case something happened to him. You were the first clue basically."  
  
Angel just smiled slightly. "Alright," he said finally. "What do you need to know?"  
  
"What, you'll help us?"  
  
Angel laughed. "Hey, I didn't like Locius very much but I still knew what he did and why he did it. What do you need to know?"  
  
"We need you to tell us about the battle with the First. It's got something to do with you so tell us about your involvement."  
  
Angel took a deep breath. "This could take a while," he said. "Would you like something to drink?"  
  
Angel got them both drinks before sitting back down and launching into the story. He told them about the amulet, about going back to Sunnydale, about Buffy's visit to LA a few weeks after the battle and her telling him everything that had happened. He even told about helping her find a few of the Slayers in LA. "That's really it," he said. "I haven't seen her in a few months but she calls on occasion."  
  
"That amulet you were talking about. Did Buffy tell you what happened to it?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Angel said. "How could I have forgotten that? She gave it to Spike to wear and he went down into the Hellmouth with them to fight. Suddenly he started sprouting sunlight from his body. It killed all the vampires that were working with the First but it also killed him. It was like he was dusted when he was down there. That amulet was the weapon that destroyed the First."  
  
Fray looked over at Hunter and he nodded. "That could be what we're looking for."  
  
Angel nodded. "It's supposed to be worn by someone with a soul but more than human. A Fader would fit that description. Just be careful," he said. "After what it did to Spike you don't want it to do the same to you. It has to be worn by a champion."  
  
"Do you know where this thing is?"  
  
Angel nodded. "It's still in the Sunnydale crater. They never got it out of there after the battle but it should be fairly easy to find since everything caved into the Hellmouth. If it's something you're looking for you'll probably be able to feel it. Locius said that when he got close to me it was like he was being pulled towards something. That might work the same with you."  
  
"Thanks for the information Angel. We appreciate it," Hunter said, standing up and extending his hand.  
  
Angel took his hand and shook it. "No problem," he said, handing Hunter back the ring. "You keep this though. It brings back too many bad memories."  
  
"What did it do?" Fray asked.  
  
"It made me see," Angel said quickly.  
  
Fray opened her mouth to say something more but suddenly the large living room window shattered as a shape flew through it. Angel dove into the kitchen to get out of the way of the sunlight. When the shape uncurled itself from its roll Fray was able to see that it was another one of the masked creatures only much larger. Its head brushed the ceiling and it was wider then both Hunter and Fray when the stood side by side. "Well," Hunter said, lowering himself into a fighting position. "At least we found the boss."  
  
Fray smiled. "Let's take him out," she said, pulling the knife from the sheath.  
  
The creature balled its fists and lunged forward. Fray dodged and the knife cut it along its back and down its shoulder. It howled in pain as blood poured from the cut and lashed backwards with its arm. The arm struck Fray in the chest and sent her flying out the open window. She caught herself on the ledge, broken bits of glass digging into her hands and wrists. She flipped herself up and landed back in the living room again.  
  
She took a moment to pull the curtain shut and block the sunlight. Angel came rushing out of the kitchen a moment later and struck the creature around the waist. "Not another one," he yelled.  
  
The creature flew into the wall, leaving a deep dent in it. Fray rushed forward and hit it with the side of her foot across its head while it was stunned. She then dodged a heavy fist and sent a strong uppercut to its stomach, picking it up off the floor a few inches.  
  
Hunter then took his turn as Fray fell back, blood pouring off her hands. Hunter slammed both of his fists into the creature's chest and then flipped backwards, kicking it in the chin and sending its head back into the wall. Angel smiled as he stepped forward. "I get to finish you off," he said.  
  
He picked up the creature and walked over to the window. He tossed it out and then dove for the kitchen again as the curtain wrapped around the creature's body as it fell. Hunter ran over to the window and watched it fall, slamming into the ground and then disappearing as it died. "Thanks for the help," Hunter said, looking at Angel.  
  
Angel smiled. "Last time I saw one of those things I wasn't in any condition to fight so I guess I got them back."  
  
"Sorry about that," Fray said, stepping forward and still pulling shards of glass out of her hands. "We'll get out of here so no more of those creatures come after you. We have to figure that it heard what you said so we might meet some more of those things back in New Sunnydale."  
  
Angel nodded. "It's alright," he said. "I can handle myself but let's clean you up first."  
  
Fray looked down at her bloody hands and Hunter took her arm and led her to the kitchen. Together, Hunter and Angel washed her hands and pulled out all the shards of glass. The Angel wrapped them in gauze. "That should keep you until you get back to Sunnydale," he said.  
  
Fray thanked him. "What about the window," Fray said. "You can't leave the kitchen until the sun goes down."  
  
"I've got a friend I can call to come in and fix everything."  
  
Fray nodded and started to leave, Hunter following close behind. "Hey, tell Willow and Xander hello for me."  
  
Fray smiled back over her shoulder at him. "No problem. And thanks for all the help Angel."  
  
Angel just waved to her from the kitchen. "We don't have to worry about any more of those masked freaks for a little while," Hunter said.  
  
"Why?" Fray asked.  
  
"They come in groups and we took out the leader. There won't be another group for at least a week. It takes them a long time to travel."  
  
Fray nodded. "That's good. I'm tired of fighting right now."  
  
Hunter nodded. "Come on," he said. "Let's go find that amulet." 


	12. Old Sunnydale

Episode 12: Old Sunnydale  
  
The sun was sinking behind the horizon by the time that New Sunnydale came into view. Hunter got to within three miles of the city before pulling off on a little dirt road and driving a few miles over the bumpy road. It had obviously once been a construction road. Small piles of gravel and concrete were on the sides of the road around corners where overloaded dump trucks had spilled some of their cargo. Finally the road came to a stop and Hunter pulled his car into the trees and got out. "The most direct route to the crater is a small path over there. It's about ten miles but it shouldn't take too long if we jog. Hang on just a second and I'll get some supplies."  
  
Fray followed him around to the trunk and smiled when he opened it. It was full of weapons, rope, flashlights, emergency blankets, a radio and other survival gear. Fray pulled out a sword and hooked the sheath to her belt. "Preparing for war?" Hunter asked, smiling.  
  
Fray shook her head. "More like hoping to prevent it."  
  
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.  
  
"I have to figure that whoever's looking for this besides us is on another side. The good guys and the bad guys, right? So anyway, I have to figure that what will eventually destroy the world is war."  
  
"You're sort of right," Hunter said.  
  
"Now it's my turn," Fray said, watching as he pulled a thick coil of rope out of the trunk. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well," Hunter started. "It is a war but we're not trying to find something to prevent it, we're trying to find something to win it. I don't know all the details, I told you that I don't know everything but still there's an army massing back home and we have to stop them."  
  
"Can't we just stop them here? Change something so that their boss doesn't come into power so that way we don't have anything that anyone wants to steal."  
  
Hunter looked at her and slammed the trunk closed. "You don't want to go back home do you?"  
  
Fray looked up at him. "My home is with Kennedy and Willow," she snapped. "How am I supposed to love something that I don't even know?"  
  
Hunter started walking into the woods and Fray followed. "You'll learn," he said, his voice tight. "Now come on, you have to get back to your family before they worry."  
  
The distaste was obvious now in his voice but Fray ignored him and started jogging beside him. By the time they reached the main road to the crater the sun was well below the trees and the moon was starting to peek out from the horizon. A few stars were scattered in the dark sky as well. It was going to be a clear night which would help their quest as well. Fray was still glad that she had a flashlight in her pocket though.  
  
They jogged down the road and Fray started to be able to see the crater. It was so large that the earth just seemed to stop. It was like there was road and then horizon with a space in between that contained nothing. A cool breeze blew across the desert and Fray could smell the destruction that had taken place ahead. She suddenly noticed that she was a few feet in front of Hunter, running towards the crater as if she was drawn.  
  
She suddenly realized that there was a pulling sensation in her stomach. They were close. "Come on," she yelled back over her shoulder. "I can feel it."  
  
Hunter put on a burst of speed and caught up with her. They ran the rest of the way to the crater and Fray slid when she came to a stop at the edge. While she looked in to the deep depression in the earth and the twisted mass of concrete, steel and wood that lay below Hunter tied off the rope on a nearby tree and tossed the other end down into the crater. He pulled it back up though and tied another length onto it when he saw that it didn't even get close to reaching.  
  
"It's about four feet from the bottom but we can drop that distance and we can jump that far to get back up."  
  
Fray nodded and started bouncing on the balls of her feet. The desperation that she felt to be in the crater looking for whatever it was that was down there was stronger than ever. Hunter glanced at her. "Looking at you now, you'd almost think you were eager to go back home."  
  
Fray stopped bouncing. "If you don't shut up I'll send you into that crater without the rope."  
  
Hunter just backed up with his hands raised. "Chill out," he said. "I was just saying."  
  
Fray glared at him. "Stop talking," she snapped. "It's not your best feature."  
  
Hunter mimicked her glare and the pointed to the edge. "You first," he said.  
  
Fray grabbed the rope and walked down the edge of the crater. It was easy with the walls of the hollow being so rough but her hands still got sore. They were still healing from the glass wounds and the rope burns she was getting weren't helping. She dropped the last few feet and landed carefully on the ruins. They were packed down tightly but Fray still didn't feel comfortable standing there.  
  
She started walking, kicking aside a fallen 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign. She kept walking until she was near the far side of the crater and she beckoned to Hunter. "It's here," she said.  
  
Hunter pulled a pick out from his belt loop and started digging. Fray helped him as best she could with her wounded hands. Soon they unearthed a set of stairs that led down into a dark cavern. "You first my lady," Hunter said, moving a sign that said 'Sunnydale High School' out of the way of the entrance.  
  
Fray pulled her flashlight out and pulled out her sword at the same time. Clicking on the light she descended down into the cavern. The overwhelming stench of rot caused Fray's stomach to flip but she kept herself controlled. She looked at Hunter came down and wrinkled his nose. "This is it," he said.  
  
"What's that?" Fray asked.  
  
"Where the last battle was fought."  
  
Fray looked around and saw some skeletons scattered around the room, a few stakes, axes and swords were discarded and a few random rats crawled around. Fray shone her light towards the far end of the cavern but it didn't even reach. "I think this place is the Hellmouth that Willow told me about," Fray said.  
  
Hunter sniffed. "That's great," he said. "But use your Fader bloodhound senses and find what we're looking for and let's get the hell out of here. You can give me a Sunnydale history when we're back on the surface."  
  
"What?" Fray joked. "Are you scared?"  
  
Hunter scoffed. "Me," he said. "Afraid? Never."  
  
Fray just turned around and shone her light over the floor. "Here we go," she said as he light caught a glint of something buried under a pile of dirt.  
  
She moved the dirt aside and pulled out a large clear gem on a long golden chain. She tossed it to Hunter. "Did they tell you what it was supposed to look like?" Fray asked.  
  
"Nope," Hunter said. "But finding a giant amulet in the deserted Hellmouth where the last battle with the First took place. This is good enough for me."  
  
Fray just nodded. "Alright," she said. "Now, I'm totally with you here. Let's get the hell out of here."  
  
Hunter smiled. "What," he said, "are you freaked out?"  
  
Fray just looked at him. "Sure," she said. "Prove to me how big it is and be all manly but I'm getting out of here and I'm woman enough to admit that this place makes me feel freaked out."  
  
Hunter just sniffed again and followed Fray out of the cavern. Fray shook her head when she got to the top and took a deep breath. Even though the air was filled with dust and dirt it was better then the rot that was down there. Fray turned to Hunter. "Something's not right," she said. "I'm still being drawn towards the cavern."  
  
Hunter walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Fray knocked it off and Hunter just sighed. "You're probably just feeling the after effects or whatever. I'm sure it will wear off but this was the only thing down there."  
  
Fray nodded and started walking back towards the rope. "Hey," Hunter called after her. "I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean to say it."  
  
Fray snorted. "Yeah you did. You've wanted to say it ever since I told you about them at breakfast. And so what if I'm going to have a problem when I have to leave. They've been there for me when you've just come. You wouldn't even have made contact with me at the Bronze if I hadn't confronted you. If I had been attacked by those masked guys you wouldn't have been there for me. They would have though."  
  
Hunter just gave up. "You're letting emotions get in your way. You can't save them Fader," he yelled after her. "Your job is to protect the future by changing the present. Not protecting the present by changing the future."  
  
Fray just waved him off and started running. By the time he caught up with her she was halfway up the rope and by the time he got to the top she was gone. He found her waiting at the car when he got there. "You're slow," she said.  
  
Hunter just slammed the rope into the trunk of the car and tossed the amulet back to her. "It's yours to take back home with your glory," he said.  
  
Fray got into the car and Hunter slid in next to her. "I'm sorry now," Fray said.  
  
Hunter just shook his head. It actually looked like he was trying to fight back tears. "What's wrong?" Fray asked.  
  
"Nothing," he snapped.  
  
"Jealous?" she asked, finally tired with his attitude. "Are you jealous that when I get back I'm going to be the one that found the answers and you're just going to be the one that was there when it happened?"  
  
Hunter looked at her and this time there were tears sliding down his cheeks. Fray turned her head to look out the window. "No," he said. "I'm jealous that when you leave people are going to cry for you and they're going to miss you. When I go no one will remember me. When you go you'll have someone to miss and something to go back home to. I don't have anything, I won't have anything and I've never had anything."  
  
Fray was silent the rest of the way home. Hunter walked her up to Kennedy and Willow's apartment. "You shouldn't care for these people," he said. "It'll just hurt more when you leave."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said. "Well I probably shouldn't fall in love either but it's too late for that."  
  
"Who?" Hunter asked, an edge of jealousy creeping into his voice.  
  
Fray just looked at him and opened the apartment door. She stopped as soon as she walked in though. Kennedy was sitting on the sofa, her head in her hands. Xander and Faith were leaning against one wall. Fray could see Dawn at the kitchen table, tears running down her face. Wood was there also, his eyes tight.  
  
Fray walked in. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
Kennedy stood up, tears making a path from her eyes down her cheeks and dropping off her chin. She walked over to Fray and nearly collapsed in her arms. Fray caught her and helped her down to the floor and then sat down next to her. Kennedy's face was buried in her shoulder but she could still hear every word that she said. "It's Willow," she sobbed. "She's gone." 


	13. Lost

Episode 13: Lost  
  
Fray felt her eyes begin to sting as Kennedy sobbed into her shoulder. "What do you mean she's gone?" Fray asked trying to keep her voice steady.  
  
Kennedy pulled her head back and wiped her eyes. New tears quickly replaced the old ones though. "I went out to train and Willow went back to bed since she was still tired When I got home I found this on the bed."  
  
She pulled a black mask out of her pocket and handed it to Fray. Fray felt a wave of guilt and anger wash over her. It was thanks to her that these masked freaks had invaded New Sunnydale, but she also knew that it was up to her to bring Willow back. She balled up the mask and felt something inside. When she turned it inside out there was a paper for a concert at the BRONZE balled up inside. She opened it and one of the dates was circled. "She'll be here on Monday," Fray said, tossing the paper to Hunter.  
  
"Day after tomorrow," Faith said,. "We can think up a plan by then. You know, it's strange that the day your boy comes into our lives all this happens."  
  
"Don't worry Faith," Fray snapped, standing up and helping Kennedy after her. "We got what we came for. As soon as we get Willow back we'll be gone and you can get back to your sleepy little demon fighting ways."  
  
Faith just snorted and walked into the kitchen. Fray shook her head and turned to Hunter. "Go back to your place, heal, rest, brood, do whatever you want to do. I'll come and get you on Tuesday and you can show me how to get home."  
  
She started to turn away but Hunter caught her shoulder and spun her around. "I want to help," he said. "I can fight too. Not as well as you can but I can still help."  
  
"Don't let your emotions get in the way Shielder," Fray snapped.  
  
"They started getting in the way the moment I met you," he said, his voice equally as harsh.  
  
Fray shook off his hand but the look she gave him was softer. She turned towards Dawn who was now standing near the kitchen door and gave her a light smile. "I'll get her back," she said. "I promise."  
  
"I know," Dawn said. "Is that what you were looking for?"  
  
Fray tossed her the amulet and Dawn looked at it for a second before tossing it back. "Spike was the last one that wore that," she said. "Make sure that the next person that uses it is worthy."  
  
Fray nodded. "I promise."  
  
Faith came out of the kitchen, Wood steering her with a hand on her waist. She just sort of looked at Fray and nodded. That was how she knew it was alright. "Okay," Fray said. "We need to get into the Bronze without them knowing we're there. I'd like at least thirty Slayers plus you all in there."  
  
"Thirty?" Kennedy said.  
  
Hunter stepped forward and threw the mask on the ground. "The markings on that are from the Hawk clan. They're like highway robbers only through time. They want whatever we've got to sell it to whoever's willing to pay the price. For something this big they probably brought two fists of warriors; at least fifty."  
  
Faith nodded. "I'll be able to get at least thirty in there. I might even be able to get one or two behind the bar and a small group in a back room."  
  
Fray nodded. "Alright," she said. "If I break a bottle though when they come I want you to get out of there with everyone else and leave the fighting to me. That means you too Hunter."  
  
Hunter started to protest but when he saw the fire in her eyes he quickly backed off. "I won't risk Willow's life for my own."  
  
Kennedy wiped her eyes again and this time it looked like the tears had finally stopped. "When did you get back home?" Hunter asked.  
  
"At about five, I was only gone for three hours."  
  
"Why Willow though?" he asked.  
  
Kennedy shrugged but Fray supplied her answer. "She's the strongest here. I mean sure, Kennedy and Faith are Slayers but Willow's got goddess power on her side. They could probably feel it."  
  
Hunter nodded. "They would go for the second most powerful person here. They probably though she was working for Fray and that Fray would want her back. Even though Willow is more powerful than Fray, the Fader is the one they're after."  
  
Fray sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. She looked at her watch and saw that it was after midnight. "We need to get some rest. Let's meet at the Coven at noon tomorrow and we'll make up a plan. Dawn, go by the Bronze tomorrow and get tickets. I shouldn't need one since I just got a job there."  
  
Hunter nodded. "I won't need one either," he said. "I'll be able to smuggle some weapons into the back room. As long as all your girls are good with swords and axes they'll be fine."  
  
Faith nodded. "My girls can hold their own with steel."  
  
Hunter nodded. Dawn, Wood, and Faith started to leave. Xander and Hunter stuck around though. "Why don't you guys get some rest and we'll keep watch."  
  
Hunter looked at him out of the corner of his eye and Xander smiled. "Okay, he'll keep watch and I'll supply comedic relief."  
  
Fray smiled and nodded slightly. "Thanks for the offer Xander but you need more sleep then I do. I haven't done anything today."  
  
Hunter looked like he was about to say something concerning the fight at Angel's and the trip to the Hellmouth but he quickly changed his mind and just shook his head. "I need to get a plan together. If you have any paper and some pens that would really help Kennedy," Fray said.  
  
Kennedy nodded and disappeared into the bedroom. She appeared a few moments later carrying a sketch book and a handful of pens. She laid them on the kitchen table and then walked back out into the living room to join the conversation. Xander was still trying to talk Fray into getting some sleep but he was quickly losing that battle. "Look," Fray finally snapped. "If you want to stay here you can take my room but I don't want you going through any of my stuff or bothering me in the middle of the night. I don't expect to sleep but I don't need you breathing down my neck."  
  
Xander looked at her, shook his head, and muttered a quick goodbye as he walked out the door. Then Fray turned to Hunter. He held up both of his hands and took a step back. "You can yell at me all that you want but I've got nowhere to go."  
  
"How about home?" Fray asked.  
  
Hunter smiled. "I don't have a home," he said. "I just have a big apartment to store all my junk."  
  
Fray shook her head and pointed to the sofa. "There," she said curtly.  
  
"You offer Xander the bed and I get the couch?"  
  
"I like Xander more then I like you right now."  
  
"That hurts," Hunter said a smile on his face. He fell onto the sofa and laughed slightly.  
  
Fray looked at Kennedy and she choked back a sob before running off into her bedroom. Fray looked back at Hunter and was surprised to see that the smile was wiped off his face. "Go," he said, his voice serious. "Be with your friend."  
  
Fray smiled and nodded. It was all the thanks that he needed. Hunter lay back, his hands behind his head, while Fray ran to Kennedy and Willow's room. Kennedy was kneeling by the bed; she had collapsed before she had even gotten there. Her head was hanging and tears were falling on the floor. Fray knelt beside her and helped her up into bed. She nearly had to pick the Slayer up and she was slightly surprised to see her so weak.  
  
"So this is what love is?" Fray asked, sitting next to Kennedy.  
  
"Pathetic isn't it?" she sniffed.  
  
Fray smiled. "No, it's beautiful."  
  
"Explain," said Kennedy.  
  
"Alright," Fray cleared her throat. "You have so many emotions in your life. Anger, hate, pain, sorrow, nervousness, but nothing provokes the responses that love does. Love can make you hate, it can make you angry or sad or nervous but in the end, even after all those bad things. It still makes you feel good.  
  
"Bad emotions and feelings and thoughts occur more often than good emotions and feelings and thought but out of everything love is the strongest. It can defeat anger and hate and pain. You can never hate someone you love and even though you still get angry at them, in the end it comes down to love."  
  
Kennedy looked at her and smiled. "I've never had anyone explain it to me quite like that," she said.  
  
Fray smiled. "Hey blondes aren't as stupid as people think."  
  
Kennedy smiled and tears started to fill her eyes again. Fray just looked at her, knowing that there was nothing she could say to make her feel any better. She tried anyway though. "I'll get her back to you," she said, "no matter what."  
  
Kennedy nodded and Fray wrapped her arms around the other girl's shoulders. Kennedy laid her head on Fray's shoulders. They stayed like that for a few moments, Kennedy drawing strength from the younger girl. "Thank you," Kennedy finally said, sitting up and looking Fray in the eyes. "It means a lot to me that you're willing to do this for me."  
  
Fray smiled. "I'm doing this for both of us. I could never live with myself if anything happened to Willow knowing that I brought it down upon her."  
  
Kennedy was about to say something but Fray just stood up and walked out of the room with a hurried goodnight. Kennedy just watched the closed door for a moment before turning off the light and fighting for sleep that was a long time coming.  
  
Fray sat at the kitchen table and rubbed her eyes again. She looked at her watch and saw that it was three in the morning. The diagram of the BRONZE 2 was finished, complete with the location of every table, chair, door, and window. She had had to go to Hunter a few times for help but now he was lying quietly on the sofa, not asleep but at least quiet.  
  
Fray leaned back in her seat and cursed quietly to herself. If she had just left when she had meant to she wouldn't have brought this on Willow and the others. Willow wouldn't be in some unknown location with strange creatures from another time doing God-knows-what to her. And Kennedy wouldn't be in the other room fighting for sleep between bouts of tears. Fray shook herself out of her daydream and was surprised to find hot tears running down her face.  
  
She sniffed loudly and regretted it the moment that she did. Hunter turned over and looked at her. She saw his brow furrow when he saw her face and he walked over to her. "Why are you crying?" he asked.  
  
"I feel responsible," she said. "Everything that's happened to Willow and Kennedy and the others has happened because I was here. I should have left earlier. You still would have found me. I just wouldn't have had to involve them."  
  
"That's not true," he snapped. "They involved themselves. They could have dropped you at the first sign of danger but they didn't because they care about you. Now I don't really understand human emotions and I guess I don't understand why you're crying but I know what it's like to care for someone. I know what it's like to want a moment to never end or to want to have someone to love and care for. I was stupid to think you'd want to give that up and you were right, I was jealous. I'll never be that stupid again though."  
  
He said this last part with such ferocity that Fray just sat there, slightly dumbstruck. "You've never even cried," she finally said.  
  
Hunter smiled. "I've never cared about anything that much to be that emotional."  
  
Fray shook her head. "But you've never been sad enough or happy enough to just cry. Or ever even been in a bad mood and just needed to let it out?"  
  
Hunter's smile grew and he shook his head too. "I've never been sad about anything. I was raised in a lab so I never had anything to be happy or sad about, everything just was."  
  
Fray smiled. "I hope you find someone that you care enough about to cry for."  
  
Hunter laughed. "Well," he said. "If I ever do I'll let you know."  
  
Fray nodded and smiled too. Hunter put his hand on hers and Fray was surprised at the shock that went through her body at his touch. She quickly shook it off though. "Come on," Hunter said. "You're tired right now. Let me make the plan for you. I know the Bronze and I don't need sleep like you do."  
  
Fray nodded and allowed herself to be led to bed. She barley noticed Hunter taking off her shoes and allowed him to bring the covers close up to her chin. She did notice however when he kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight Fader," he whispered.  
  
Fray whispered goodnight and fell asleep, still able to feel his lips on her forehead. 


	14. The Battle at the Bronze

Episode 14: The Battle at the Bronze  
  
Fray tied the black apron around her waist and tucked a long knife into one of the large pockets. Kennedy was doing the same and Rona, Vi, and a handful of other Slayers were standing in the storage closet grabbing weapons out of a large laundry bag that Hunter had brought back. There were also close to twenty Slayers standing outside listening to the concert. Fray could hear the heavy drum beats and the screaming guitars but she quickly shut out the noise. "Ready to go?" Fray asked Kennedy.  
  
She flashed Fray a smiled. "The first guy that tries to feel me up gets a cold drink right in his lap."  
  
Fray smiled and nodded. "Juts don't get my in trouble. I plan on keeping this job for a few days after we're done."  
  
Kennedy just smiled and walked out of the back room. Fray turned to Rona. "You know what to do right?"  
  
Rona smiled. "If we don't hear anything we come out and start kicking ass, if we hear something then we run out the back door like a bunch of scared rabbits."  
  
Fray nodded. "Make sure you listen."  
  
Rona nodded. "Be careful," she said. "But get Willow back."  
  
"I will," Fray said.  
  
Then she turned around and walked out the door and into the BRONZE. It was more crowded then it had been on opening night. The band that was playing was a local favorite and everyone was trying to crowd in to the club to see them. Fray took a few orders, got a few tips and talked some with a few of her classmates. The whole time though, she was looking around for some sign of the Timers.  
  
Hunter came over and ordered a drink. "They have a scout," he said. "A guy over in one of the corners. I think they're waiting for everyone to leave. Tell everyone to stay even after the concert's over."  
  
Fray nodded, handed him a drink and walked into the back room. Vi, Rona and the others were waiting around, sitting on boxes and talking. They looked up expectantly when she walked in. She told them what Hunter had told her and then walked back out into the club. It was late by the time everyone left. The only people left were the Slayers and the man in the corner. Fray walked over to him. "I think you have something that I want."  
  
He looked up at her and she saw that his face was covered in white paint. "You're probably right," he hissed. "But you won't get her back as long as your friends are here. Get everyone out but you and your Shielder and then we'll talk."  
  
Fray looked up. She grabbed a beer bottle off a nearby table and dropped it onto the floor. She didn't even look up as everyone started walking out of the club. She grabbed Hunter's shoulder before he could leave though. "You can stay," she whispered to him.  
  
He nodded and went to lean against the bar. Kennedy looked at Fray and the younger girl smiled at her. Fray saw tears forming in her eyes again so she turned away and shook her head. When they were all gone she shut the door and bolted it. "Alright," she said to the man with the painted face. "Where is she?"  
  
"Turn around," he said.  
  
Fray spun around. Willow was standing there, her arms and legs bound and blood running out of the corner of her mouth. Five of the masked warriors stood on either side of her. Fray's stomach clenched in revulsion and she spun back towards the other man. "Let her go," Fray yelled.  
  
The man with the painted face chuckled as he stood up. "I can't just give her to you," he said.  
  
His voice was dry and rasping like wind blowing through dead leaves. Fray's eyes narrowed. "Then I'll take her."  
  
The man smiled, his yellow teeth standing out against his white face. He pulled something out of his pocket and Fray saw that it was a small glowing orb. "If this is broken without being close to her, she dies. Don't tempt me or I'll shatter this all over the floor and your witch will die."  
  
Fray's glare deepened but she didn't move. "What do you want?" she asked.  
  
The man smiled. "I want that shiny little gem in your friend's pocket. That's what you're after and I figure that we deserve a chance at it too."  
  
Hunter took a step forward and he looked ready to lunge but Fray stopped him with a hand. "Give me the amulet," she said.  
  
Hunter looked at her like she was crazy. "But we need it."  
  
"Then we'll get it back."  
  
Hunter handed it to her. His jaw was clenched so he didn't say anything more but his hands were tightened into fists at his side. "Take it," Fray said, tossing the amulet to him. "But you'd better keep looking over your shoulder because I'll be after you until I get that back."  
  
The man smiled again and bowed low. "Thank you my lady. But I hate to steal and leave but I have a previous appointment. My friends will finish our business though."  
  
With a slight pop he disappeared, the amulet with him. The orb though, was now falling to the floor. Fray was about to make a move for it when a red blur shot by her and caught it in midair. Hunter turned around and tossed the orb to Fray. "Take care of Willow. I'll deal with our friends."  
  
Fray nodded and turned towards Willow. The Wicca was now lying against the wall. Her green eyes were half closed but she smiled slightly when Fray came over to her. The younger woman ignored the sounds behind her and just cupped her hand behind Willow's head. "I'm sorry for getting you into this," Fray said.  
  
Willow shook her head as well as she could. "No," she croaked. "I've been in worse. I was friends with Buffy, remember. You're nothing compared to her."  
  
Fray smiled and cracked open the orb. The pale blue smoke that seemed to be filling it left the orb and flew in through Willow's nose and mouth. Fray helped Willow sit up but she was in no shape to help. Fray turned and looked at Hunter. He was attempting to take on all ten of the fighters but sweat was pouring off his body. He was fighting a losing battle. "Take this," Willow whispered, putting her hands over Fray's.  
  
Fray felt her hands growing warm and when Willow removed them, small balls of fire lay in the palms' of Fray's hands. Willow smiled and then leaned back in the chair. "Go on," she said.  
  
Fray clenched her fists around the balls of fire and let out a roar of battle as she turned around. Four of the warriors turned towards her and started rushing forward. Fray drew back and threw both balls of fire into their midst like baseballs. Then suddenly hey hands grew cold and when she looked down small balls of blue frost had formed. She could feel the cold running all the way through her arms and into her chest. Two of the fighters were on fire thanks to Willow and they soon disappeared. The others were still coming though. One rushed forward and Fray slammed him in the chest with her palm. He quickly froze and then shattered when he slammed into the opposite wall.  
  
The other fighter rushed forward followed by two of his friends. Fray slammed the first one in the stomach with a sidekick and then jumped up, the side of her foot catching him in the head and snapping his neck. The other two hesitated when they saw what she was doing and Fray used that hesitation to her ability. She jumped forward and struck them both in the chest with front kicks. They both flew back and slammed into one of the tables.  
  
Fray walked over to them and pressed both of her palms into their chests. They quickly froze and she slammed her heel into their frozen bodies and shattered them. When she turned around there were no more of the creatures left. Hunter was stumbling across the floor with blood running out of his nose. "I never knew you could work Magick."  
  
"It's thanks to Willow."  
  
Willow smiled. "I gave you the fire. The ice is your own creation."  
  
Fray looked down and saw that small balls of ice were still on her hands she thought about them not being there and suddenly they weren't. Fray just shook her head. "You learn a new thing every day," Fray said.  
  
Hunter started for the door but Fray caught his wrist. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Going after the boss," he said. "He's got the amulet."  
  
Fray nodded. "We'll meet again. That amulet isn't what we want. I can feel it. What we're looking for is still back in the Hellmouth. Let him keep it for now. We'll get it back soon enough."  
  
Hunter just looked at her and then a smile broke across his face. "And the Fader's back," he said.  
  
Fray just smiled. "Come on," she said, walking over to Willow. "Let's get the hell out of here."  
  
Fray helped Willow up, more weight on Fray then was on the floor. Fray half walked, half carried the witch out the door and into the cool night air of New Sunnydale. All of the Slayers had surrounded the building, it looked like there were more then fifty now. Dawn, Xander, Wood, Faith, and Andrew were also standing around. Kennedy was the first to move.  
  
She shot forward and hugged Fray and Willow at the same time. Then she hugged Willow, tears falling down her face. "Thank you," Kennedy mouthed from over Willow's shoulder.  
  
Fray just smiled and nodded slightly. Hunter looked around and smiled. "Your family?" he asked, pointing to everyone standing around.  
  
"Every one of them," Fray said.  
  
Rona, Vi, and some of the other Slayers that Fray knew came forward, big smiles plastered on their faces, and started asking about how everything was. Fray answered all of their questions and then finally had to push them off. "Sorry everyone but I've got to go home. I'll come by the Coven tomorrow and answer some more alright."  
  
Kennedy was already moving Willow away from the crowd and towards their car. Fray said hi to Dawn, Xander, Faith, Wood, and Andrew. Faith even gave Hunter a pat on the back and flashed him a rare smiled. "Come on Hunter," Fray said, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. "Let's go home."  
  
Hunter just smiled and let himself be steered towards the car.  
  
When they all got to the apartment Fray helped Kennedy dress Willow's wounds and change her clothes. When she was finally in bed Fray sat down on the sofa and laid her head back on the cushions. Kennedy sat down next to her and smiled. "You should be with your girl," Fray said.  
  
Kennedy's smiled widened. "I feel fine just knowing that she's in the next room. Thanks for getting her back."  
  
Fray smiled. "I told you I would."  
  
Kennedy just nodded. "What about the amulet. I mean you had to give it to the Timers."  
  
Fray shook her head. "That wasn't what we were looking for. It will help though but we'll get it back. What we want though, it's still down in the Hellmouth. We need to go down and get it."  
  
"I'll get some girls to help," Kennedy said.  
  
"Make sure you don't get the ones that fought down there. It might be too much for some of them. There are weapons and skeletons, things that most of your Slayers won't want to be reminded of."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "My girls can handle themselves but I'll make sure that they can handle it."  
  
"Can you?" Fray asked.  
  
Kennedy smiled and nodded. "We won, remember?"  
  
"Yeah," Fray said. "That helps doesn't it?"  
  
Kennedy nodded. "When do you need us?"  
  
"Saturday," Fray said. "I've got school and work all this week. I'll ask off for Saturday."  
  
Kennedy nodded. "Speaking of school. You'd better get your ass to bed if you want to be able to drag yourself out in the morning. It's already midnight."  
  
Fray nodded and stood up. Hunter was sitting in the kitchen, a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. "Just a second," Fray said, walking over to him.  
  
"Hey," she said, sitting down across from him. "Are you going to sleep tonight?"  
  
Hunter looked up at her, dark rings circled his shocking blue eyes but he just smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "I've still got some reserves left."  
  
Fray shook her head. "No way," she said. "We've got school in the morning. You can sleep in my room. On the floor of course."  
  
Hunter smiled. "Of course."  
  
Fray smiled as she stood up and they walked towards her room. "Do you snore?" Fray asked.  
  
"I don't know," Hunter said.  
  
Fray smiled. "Don't worry. If I hit you in the head with a pillow in the middle of the night then you snore. If I don't, you're safe."  
  
Hunter just smiled and walked into the bedroom. Fray turned around and smiled at Kennedy. Kennedy smiled back. "Be good," she said.  
  
Fray laughed and walked into the bedroom.  
  
Fray turned over in bed and looked over the edge. Hunter was lying on the floor, his arm under his pillow. His eyes were open and they seemed to glow in the dark. "Can't sleep?" he asked her.  
  
Fray shook her head. "I'm starting to remember things. Some of my training, some of my past. I can see a giant city with flying vehicles and towering buildings. It's strange though, I'm having an inner battle. My training goes against the feeling that I have towards everyone I've met. The love, the hope, the hate and the anger that I keep feeling, it all goes against what I've learned. But I can't help thinking that my training was wrong."  
  
Hunter looked straight into her eyes and smiled. "It was wrong and it is wrong. Emotions don't make you weak, they make you human and that's what you are. Don't ever go against what you are and what you feel."  
  
"Do you believe that your training was wrong?" Fray asked.  
  
Hunter nodded. "It tells me that what I'm feeling is wrong but these emotions feel right. They make me happy and it makes me work harder for people that I care about."  
  
"So you care about the people that I have made friends with?"  
  
"Yes," he said. "But I also care about the girl that they are friends with."  
  
Fray was glad that it was dark so he couldn't see her blush. "What was your name where we came from?"  
  
"Sevan," Hunter said, the name spoken as if it was a curse. "The name of a warrior that I am not worthy of."  
  
"Who was that warrior?"  
  
"The man who gave his DNA to make me; my father."  
  
Fray heard him turn over and soon his breathing was regular and he was asleep but it was a long time coming for Fray. 


	15. Fire and Ice

Episode 15: Fire and Ice  
  
Fray felt her bones and her blood warm as the ball of fire struck her in the chest. She quickly felt it melt away though as she opened her mind and allowed a wave of cold air to wash through her. She clenched her fist and when she opened it a small ball of cool blue ice was hovering a few centimeters off her palm. Hunter smiled at her and a ball of his own, yellow and orange flame, formed in his own palm. "Catch this," he said.  
  
Winding up like a baseball pitcher he let the fire go and it flew towards Fray. She was ready though and she let hers go just in time to slam into the ball of fire. They came together and disappeared in a little puff of steam. Fray knelt down, felt another wave of ice roll through her body, and threw a small ball towards Hunter. He dodged it just as it went by, freezing the edge of his pants. He held up both hands and shook his head. "Enough," he panted. "It's not fair that I can only use one hand."  
  
Fray smiled and put her hands down, pushing back the wave of ice that threatened to burst out of her hands. She was getting better with the power that a few days before she hadn't even known that she had. Back when she had started training she had frozen a punching bag. Now though, she was able to control her ice, make it bigger or smaller, and even call it back to her. She still had to work to stop them though.  
  
Fray wiped a few beads of sweat off of her brow and sat down on a weight bench. Hunter sat down next to her and took a long drink out of his water bottle. Most of the slayers that belonged to the Coven were gone, allowed one long weekend at home with their parents every once in a while now that they were able to take care of themselves. Also, at the moment, no one was hunting the Slayers.  
  
Buffy was also home with Giles, both of them had flown in just two days ago out of London and they were amazed at the progress of New Sunnydale. "This is so cool," Buffy had said, looking out the living room window in Willow and Kennedy's apartment. "It looks just like I remember it."  
  
"There is one main difference," Willow had said, smiling at her friend.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Less cemeteries."  
  
The friends had laughed and Fray had happily given her room to Buffy. Giles was going to sleep at the Coven with Dawn and Andrew while he helped them go over some training techniques. Fray looked around the quiet gym and shivered slightly. It was getting colder, close to winter now, and even though New Sunnydale never got cold, it was still cool, a biting wind blowing outside.  
  
"We should probably get going," Hunter said, snapping her out of her daydreams. "We told Willow we'd be back in two hours. She's planning a big dinner for everyone to give them a chance to catch up."  
  
Fray nodded. "I wonder if she won't mind me skipping it."  
  
"What," Hunter said, turning to look at her. "But I thought you liked Buffy and Giles, I mean, they're pretty cool."  
  
Fray smiled. "Are you kidding, I love Buffy and Giles is great but I feel so out of place. They're all talking about Sunnydale as they used to know it and all I can do is smile and nod and not know what they're talking about."  
  
Hunter smiled and stood up. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Willow invited me too so we can both feel out of place together."  
  
Fray laughed. "Oh goody," she said, her tone sarcastic.  
  
Hunter laughed with her and they waved to Dawn and Andrew before walking out of the warehouse. Hunter's car was parked in front and Fray climbed in beside him. "I'll take you home first and then I'll go back to my place and change. It shouldn't take me too long and then I'll be back over."  
  
Fray nodded and they drove quickly to Willow's. Buffy and Kennedy were standing outside the apartment building, looking around and talking. "You should come to the Bronze 2 with us tomorrow," Kennedy said.  
  
Buffy shook her head but smiled anyway. "Sorry Kennedy," she said. "You know, I almost wished they had made it look nothing like Sunnydale. There are too many bad memories here. Too much blood and too many tears spilled. Everywhere I look it makes me think of Anya or Spike or Tara. I can still see Spike walking around with that leather duster on. I can see Anya flitting around the house trying so hard to act normal and failing so badly. I can even see Tara walking out of the magic shop with her arms full of books."  
  
Buffy sighed. "But I can also see Anya taking a bringer's knife to the chest. I can see Tara with a bullet through her chest that should have been the second one in mine. And I can still see Spike with bright rays of light jutting out of his body."  
  
Buffy's voice wavered when she started talking about Spike and Kennedy laid a reassuring arm on her shoulder. Fray walked slowly up the sidewalk, hearing Hunter driving away in the background. She didn't want to disturb them but they were blocking her way to the house and she did kind of want to get inside. Kenney looked at her just as Fray was thinking about how she was going to politely ask them to get the hell out of the way. "Sorry Fray," she said, stepping to the side.  
  
Buffy looked up and smiled when she saw her. "Your boy's got a nice car."  
  
Fray smiled and blushed slightly. "He's not my boy," she said. "But yeah, he does have a nice car."  
  
Buffy just nodded and smiled lightly. Fray wondered if her words had sounded as unconvincing to Buffy as they had to her. "So," Kennedy said, looking at both of the girls. "When are we going to show Buffy around the Coven?"  
  
Fray smiled at Buffy. "That's right," she said. "You haven't been there yet. We can take you tomorrow if you want to."  
  
"Sure," Buffy said. "I don't have anything else to do. And maybe after that we can go to the Bronze 2."  
  
Kennedy tilted her head as she looked at the older Slayer. "Are you sure?" she asked.  
  
Buffy nodded. "I need to get over this and reacquaint myself with the town. I might want to move back some day. I mean don't get me wrong. England's great and I love London but I miss home, and Dawn, Willow, Xander. I miss everything and everyone."  
  
Kennedy smiled and the group made their way up to the apartment. Willow was in the kitchen, bustling around and clinging pots together. She stuck her head out when she heard the door close. "Hey guys," she said.  
  
Kennedy smiled and Buffy walked over and hugged her best friend. Xander stuck his head out around Willow's shoulder and shook his head. He stepped beside her and Fray had to muffle a laugh. "Look at what she put me in," he said, indicating a flowered and ruffled apron that was tied around his waist.  
  
Kennedy smiled. "Abusing him again?" she asked.  
  
Willow laughed. "Just a little but he deserved it."  
  
"What did you do Xander?" Buffy asked, putting her hands on her hips.  
  
Xander held up both of his hands, one covered in an oven mitt that closely matched his apron. "Don't look at me, I didn't do it."  
  
Willow shook her head and handed him a spoon. "Here," she said. "Go stir the sauce."  
  
Xander ducked back into the kitchen, muttering under his breath. Willow laughed and joined the others out in the living room. "How's it going Fray?" she asked, looking at the young girl.  
  
Fray smiled and held up her hand, a slight flake of ice rested there for a second before disappearing. "I'm pretty good at control but I have trouble turning it off. I mean I can feel the ice flowing through me and I like it. I don't want it to leave."  
  
Willow nodded. "Don't worry," she said. "It will get easier as time goes on. It's good that Hunter agreed to train with you though. I'm still tired but by tomorrow I might be able to help some."  
  
Kennedy shook her head from where she stood behind Willow's shoulder and Fray smiled. Willow had been captured just a few days ago by a group of Timers that were after Fray. They had taken Willow instead and had nearly killed her, taking most of her power and life and putting it into a small orb. Willow was still tired and her jaw still looked bruised. Fray had been able to rescue her at the BRONZE 2 a few days earlier and that was where she had discovered her magickal talents.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Fray said. "Hunter's good to spar with but I think he's a little sore about losing so much."  
  
Fray took her leave, walking into the bathroom and turning on the water. Willow, Buffy, and Kennedy stayed outside, sitting around and talking, their conversation interrupted on occasion by comments from Xander. "Whoops," he said, followed by a large crash.  
  
Buffy smiled as Willow craned her neck around to see what he was doing. "That's our boy," she said. "How's he doing?"  
  
Buffy didn't have to elaborate. Willow knew what she was talking about. "He hasn't dated anyone since. He won't even look at most girls. If I didn't know I'd think he was gay. I just happen to know that he's heartbroken."  
  
Buffy smiled sadly. "I know the feeling."  
  
A few minutes later the front door opened and Dawn and Andrew bounded in followed closely behind by Giles. The watcher was furiously cleaning his glasses with the edge of his shirt. Buffy glanced at Dawn. "What did you say to him?" she asked.  
  
Dawn sniggered and looked at Andrew. Andrew shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I was just talking about Vulcan mating rituals. I was just saying that to copulate, the male puts his."  
  
"Yes thank you," Giles interrupted. "I think we've all heard quite enough."  
  
Dawn laughed and walked into the kitchen. Andrew just shrugged again and followed her. "Don't ever ask that boy what his favorite TV show is," Giles said, collapsing on the sofa next to Buffy.  
  
Buffy smiled. "Thanks for the advice."  
  
Fray came out of the shower a few minutes later, her long blonde hair tied in a wet ponytail. She smiled at Giles as she walked into the living room. She saw him clean his glasses again and her smiled widened. "Andrew told you about the Vulcans didn't he?"  
  
Giles looked down at his glasses and put them on quickly. "Can we just not talk about that anymore? The mental picture that I got from that was absolutely awful."  
  
Fray nodded and sat down in a nearby chair. "Where's everyone else?" she asked.  
  
"Robin was getting off work a little late; he had to supervise an expulsion meeting. Faith's coming with him. And Hunter's the only other one missing," Buffy supplied, counting off the names on her fingers.  
  
Fray nodded. "He'll be here soon. He just went home to change."  
  
Hunter and the others came in just a few minutes later. They all sat in the living room talking and listening to the crashes coming from the kitchen and Dawn and Andrew's shouted warnings. Finally a slightly disheveled Xander stuck his head around the doorframe and smiled slightly. "Dinner's served," he said.  
  
As the group crowded in to the kitchen table they were greeted with a large bowl of pasta, salad, a plate of bread and a few uncorked bottles of wine. The wine was passed around first and the food came next. Fray noticed that Buffy frowned slightly as Dawn poured a small amount of the red wine into her glass but she didn't say anything. Dinner conversation was mostly one sided. Buffy asked the questions, the others answered them and Giles, Hunter, and Fray remained quiet for the most part.  
  
The watcher almost choked on a piece of bread when Xander jokingly asked Andrew about Star Trek and the boy started launching into a very animated explanation of the show. "So," Giles said, interrupting him again. "Fray, how has your visit in New Sunnydale been?"  
  
Fray smiled. "It's been great," she said, watching Andrew's face fall. She smiled at him as he rose his head back up and he smiled back. "Everyone here's been really nice and understanding."  
  
Giles smiled. "Well it's good to see that not much has changed. I've done a little research on Faders and unfortunately there isn't much. Besides Angel, only one other person has ever had contact with them. He died fifteen years ago though."  
  
"Well," Hunter said. "I guess we can count him out."  
  
Giles nodded. "The Fader's name was Lau'dan. He was a warrior Fader that was supposed to train this man in fighting ways. He was a Watcher actually. He came about in a time when our kind was almost extinct and for a time he was the only one. He had to be trained by this Fader so he could train the next Slayer."  
  
"Lau'dan," Hunter said, looking up from his plate. "I know that name. I read it in a book somewhere during my studies. He was the last Fader to go before Fray."  
  
Fray looked at him and she frowned slightly. "Do you notice that everything that I've heard about Faders doing is connected to the Slayers? I mean Angel worked with Buffy for a time, and then this other guy training a Watcher. I mean, it's got to have something to do with them. Whatever my mission is. That's why I was drawn to the Hellmouth."  
  
Buffy looked over at Fray. "You've been to the Hellmouth?" she asked.  
  
Fray nodded and looked down at her plate. "We found the amulet," she said. "But it was lost. We traded it for Willow."  
  
Buffy's face fell for a moment but she smiled at Willow. "It was worth it."  
  
Willow smiled and looked at Fray, nodding and letting her know that she hadn't said anything wrong. "We have to go back though," Fray said.  
  
Buffy glanced at her again, her eyes tight. "When?" she asked.  
  
"Day after tomorrow," Fray said. "We didn't find what we needed so we have to look around a little bit more. I know that it's down there though. I just have to find it."  
  
"I've got some of the girls going with her. Willow, Faith, Hunter, and I are going too."  
  
Buffy nodded. "I'm going as well. I know my way around down there. I still remember it."  
  
She closed her eyes tightly for a minute and looked back up. "Alright," she said. "I'll be ready on Saturday."  
  
Fray nodded and looked back down at her plate. For some reason, she knew that this was her last chance. If she didn't find what she was looking for down in the Hellmouth, the world was doomed.  
  
After dinner Fray walked outside and sat down on a bench just outside the apartment. The group was sitting in the living room talking about old times and all that was pre-Fray so she decided to butt out. Kennedy had looked at her as she left but Fray just smiled at the Slayer and she had nodded and smiled back. Fray just needed to be alone. Unfortunately that wasn't going to be the case. She heard footsteps crunching on the pavement. "You left pretty quickly," he said.  
  
"I needed some time to think," Fray said, looking over her shoulder at him.  
  
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.  
  
Fray smiled and scooted over. "Never," she said.  
  
Hunter smiled back and sat down next to her. "You were really quiet at dinner after we talked about the Hellmouth. What's on your mind?"  
  
"I feel like time is running out," Fray said. "This is our last chance and I want to succeed but I dread it as well. As soon as I complete my mission we have to go back."  
  
"Yeah," Hunter said, looking down the dark street. "Something like that."  
  
Fray glanced at him and leaned back on the bench. "What's the deal?" she asked. "Every time I talk about going back you get more distant than I do."  
  
Hunter smiled and laughed slightly. "I'd hoped that you wouldn't ask that question."  
  
Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is a one time deal for me," he said. "I can't go back. I'll die on the way and that's how it's supposed to be. I'm sort of a call a friend life line. You can only use me once and even if I give you the right answer, I can't get you any farther. You'll go back to our time but I'll stay here for about a week longer and then I'll die. They'll unplug me from the system and my life force will slowly run out."  
  
Fray looked at him, a mixture of shock and pain on her face. "You sound like you're fine with that," she said.  
  
Hunter smiled. "I've come to accept it."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said. "Well I can't."  
  
Hunter looked at her and their eyes met. He smiled lightly and shook his head, breaking away their glance. "As long as I keep you safe I really don't care if I die," he said.  
  
Fray turned to him and this time her eyes trapped his and held them. "What do you get when you combine fire and ice?" she asked.  
  
"Water," Hunter answered.  
  
"After that."  
  
"Steam, and then nothing."  
  
"Nothing," Fray whispered. "But what about us."  
  
She held out her hand and a blue mist began to rise off of it as she channeled the cool air that flowed from her chest. "It's like a spark," she said. "I can feel it in my chest." Fray let her hand flutter across Hunter's chest right over his heart and felt him shiver slightly. She let her hand continue its path as she spoke.  
  
"I can feel it running through my chest, into my shoulder, down my arm and into my hand where it becomes active."  
  
She took his hand in hers and could feel the ice mix with the heat that he contained in his palm. She shivered herself. "But in the end," she whispered, looking up into his eyes. "It all comes back to the heart."  
  
Hunter leaned forward and his lips met hers in a kiss backed by passion and longing. Fray was the first to pull away after a few long minutes. By the way that her lips lingered though, you could tell she wanted more. "I'm going to tell Kennedy and Willow that I'll be at your place tonight," Fray said, standing up.  
  
Hunter stopped her, his hand still on hers. "Why?"  
  
"Because," she said. "Buffy's got my bed and there isn't enough room for both of us on the couch. Besides, I don't want to wake anyone up."  
  
Hunter's eyes lightened as he caught the hint. "I'll get the car," he said, reluctantly letting go of her hand but taking off in a dead run when he did.  
  
Fray laughed slightly and started back upstairs. 


	16. Into the Mouth of Hell

Episode 16: Into the Mouth of Hell  
  
The BRONZE 2 was full of people and loud music. A band was playing on the stage with way too much base and too little talent. Waitresses were passing out drinks and a few young men behind one counter were cooking hamburgers on a long grill. Fray pulled off her apron and threw it onto the table. She smiled at the others sitting around. "You look happy," Dawn commented, taking a sip of her drink. "Would that smirk have anything to do with the fact that you didn't come home last night?"  
  
Fray's smile deepened. "Not really," she said. "It has to do with the fact that the tips rocked tonight but now that you mention it."  
  
Fray blushed and took a sip of her own drink. Kennedy laughed and Willow smiled brightly. "Someone got some action," Willow said.  
  
Fray cleared her throat. "Alright," she said quickly, "new topic of conversation."  
  
Dawn laughed and shook her head. "No way in hell you're getting out of giving us the details."  
  
Fray was about to say something when a hand touched her shoulder. She smiled as she turned around and looked up into Hunter's pale blue eyes. He smiled at the others and Fray though she saw him blush when Kennedy flashed him a knowing smile. He just laughed and leaned nearer to Fray's ear. "What have you been telling them?" he whispered.  
  
Fray smiled and turned towards him. "Nothing but the truth."  
  
Hunter sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."  
  
Fray playfully punched him in the shoulder. Hunter grabbed her wrist and pulled her out towards the dance floor. Kennedy, Willow, and Dawn watched them go. Buffy sat down just a few seconds later. She saw the others watching Fray and Hunter and she smiled. "So," she said. "What do you think actually happened last night?"  
  
"Well," Kennedy said. "She was alone in an apartment with an exceptionally handsome and extremely fit young man after a few moments of unbridled passion. While that scenario does nothing for me, I'm willing to bet that she had some fun."  
  
Willow smiled and shook her head. Kennedy leaned towards her. "Don't be jealous," she whispered.  
  
Willow blushed and started to say something. Kennedy placed a finger on her lips and took her hand. They walked together towards the dance floor. "Awww," Buffy said, tilting her head and looking at the two couples. "To be young and in love."  
  
Dawn snorted. "If only I knew," she said.  
  
"What," Buffy asked, turning back to her sister. "No boy toys?"  
  
"Not unless you count Andrew; the human puppy dog."  
  
"And why aren't you counting Andrew?"  
  
"Because in the middle of a make out session he'd probably compare the location and the situation to one of his favorite sci-fi television episodes. That's not my idea of a good time."  
  
Buffy laughed. "So," she said after a few seconds. "What are the plans for tomorrow night?"  
  
Dawn sighed and looked at her sister. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we can do it without you."  
  
Buffy shot a withering look at her sister and Dawn shrugged. "Alright," she said. "We're meeting at the Coven at seven tomorrow evening. Then Hunter's going to drive us to the crater. We'll repel into the basin and then make our way to the Hellmouth. Hunter says that there's a clear entrance to it, the one that was in the school. We have about a dozen slayers going, not counting the core group."  
  
"Which includes?"  
  
"Me, Fray, Hunter, Faith, Willow, Kennedy, Wood, Xander, and, it seems, you." Buffy nodded in agreement. "Alright then," she said. "I'll see you then, and tell Fray that she can come home tonight. I'll be at the Coven with Giles all night. He's giving me some more training tips since I've been sitting on my ass since I got to London."  
  
Dawn smiled and watched her sister go. Fray walked over a few minutes later and sat down. "Where's lover boy?" Dawn asked.  
  
Fray motioned towards the bar. "Drinks," she said.  
  
"So," Dawn said, leaning forward on the table. "What happened last night?"  
  
Fray smiled. "We went back to his place and basically made out for three or four hours before falling asleep in each others arms. It's not the scandal that you want it to be, yet."  
  
"Ahhh," Dawn said. "You added a yet to there, which means you want something to happen."  
  
Fray laughed. "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't."  
  
Dawn smiled back and nodded. "I'm sure it will," she said. "I can see that he really cares about you."  
  
Fray smiled. "Yeah, well the feeling's mutual."  
  
Dawn and Fray continued to talk until Hunter came over and sat down with another round of drinks for everyone. "We leave tomorrow," Dawn said, "at seven. Be at the Coven."  
  
Fray nodded and looked down at her drink. She took a sip and then looked back over at Dawn. The other girl was watching her closely. "Do you think you'll find whatever's there?"  
  
"I have to," Fray said. "I can feel that this is my last chance."  
  
Dawn nodded and checked her watch. "It's getting late," she said. "I should probably go on back to the Coven. Buffy's staying there for the night so you're free to go on back to Willow and Kennedy's."  
  
"Alright," Fray said, "thanks."  
  
She waved to Dawn as she walked away. Hunter and Fray sat for a while, talking, and then moved back out onto the dance floor. Kennedy and Willow were still there. "So," Willow said, leaning over towards Fray. "Are you coming home tonight? I heard that Buffy is staying at the Coven."  
  
"Yeah," Fray said. "I probably will if I want to get any sleep tonight."  
  
Willow laughed and went back over to Kennedy. The Slayer laughed too as Willow told her about the conversation. Hunter wrapped his arms around Fray's waist. "So," he said. "You're leaving me alone tonight?"  
  
Fray smiled. "You can come over if you want. I'm sure that Willow and Kennedy won't mind."  
  
"I don't want to keep them awake," Hunter said.  
  
Fray laughed and buried her head into his shoulder. "Don't worry," she whispered. "We'll be quiet."  
  
Fray, Hunter, Willow, and Kennedy arrived at the apartment just a few hours later. A letter from Buffy about her plans to stay the night at the Coven was sitting on the kitchen table. Willow picked it up and read. "She said she'll meet us tomorrow night to go to the Hellmouth."  
  
Kennedy sat down on the sofa and looked up at her girlfriend. "Are you sure she's ready?" Kennedy asked. "I mean I know what I went through down there. Multiply that by ten and you get what Buffy felt."  
  
Willow nodded and sat down beside her. "If Buffy says that she is then we have to trust her."  
  
"I thought you said she wasn't very bright," Kennedy joked.  
  
Willow glanced at her. "I was having a tense moment," Willow said. "Fate of the world resting on my shoulders and all that."  
  
Kennedy laughed slightly and took Willow's hand. "We'd better get to bed. It's probably going to be a long night tomorrow."  
  
Fray nodded in agreement. Willow allowed herself to be led into the bedroom. Fray stayed outside and ran a hand through her hair. "I wish we didn't have to get them involved," Fray said. "I don't want to put any of my friends in a situation where they'd feel uncomfortable."  
  
Hunter shook his head and sat down next to her. Fray leaned her head on his shoulder. "I've told you before; they're doing this because they want to. You didn't drag them into your problems. They're going to that crater and into the Hellmouth tomorrow because they want to help you."  
  
Fray smiled. "Maybe they're trying to get rid of me."  
  
"No one who knew you would want to get rid of you."  
  
Fray tilted her head up and allowed Hunter's lips to touch hers.  
  
Hanging from the edge of the roof, a pair of eyes looked into the living room through the kitchen window. His sensitive ears had picked up the conversation. His master would be happy; he knew the location of the Fader and her Shielder. They could set an ambush at the Hellmouth. A mouth curved in a smile moving the thin black mask that covered the face.  
  
Hunter drove his car away from the lights of New Sunnydale and onto the highway that had once run through Old Sunnydale. It now led to a crater, a giant hole in the middle of a desert surrounded by nothing more than memories. Two white vans followed him out of the city. Robin was driving one, Xander was driving the other. Willow and Kennedy sat in the back of Hunter's car and Fray sat beside him. The car's headlights cut through the darkness but not very far. There was no moon in the sky and Fray felt a shiver run down her spine. Something didn't feel right but she couldn't place it. Fray shook her head to push her feelings away. Hunter glanced over at her. "Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
Fray smiled over at him and nodded. "I'm fine; I just didn't sleep well last night."  
  
"Nightmare," Hunter said; a statement more than a question.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"I heard you thrashing about in your sleep and yelling at something. Do you remember what it was?"  
  
"I was bound," Fray said, looking out the window. "There was nothing around me but darkness. Through it though, all these voices were yelling at me, telling me that my time was almost up, that my last chance was coming."  
  
Hunter nodded. "Anxiety," he said. "You're nervous about coming back here because you know what it's going to mean."  
  
Kenney leaned forward slightly. "What exactly does it mean?" she asked.  
  
Fray turned around and looked at her. "It means that I'm going to have to go back."  
  
Kennedy grunted and leaned back against the seat. Fray turned around and looked back out the window. The car was silent for a few more minutes until Hunter started to slow down. "We're here," he said, pulling the car off the road.  
  
The two vans followed. Fray opened her door and stepped out into the cool night air. All the rest of the group was wearing light jackets; some even had hats pulled around their ears. Fray had chosen a gray t-shirt. She didn't even feel the cold touch her.  
  
Fray walked to the back of one of the vans and helped Faith and Buffy pull coils of rope out of it. The quickly tied the rope to a few scraggly trees that they found near the crater and allowed the ends to fall into the basin below. Hunter stood near the edge and shined a large flashlight inside. "It looks safe," he said. "Watch your footing if you're on the far right rope. It looks like you're landing might not be too soft."  
  
Fray attached a long knife to her belt and took a deep breath. She felt a wave of cool air wash over her body. When she moved her hands again, a small layer of ice broke and scattered to the ground. Finally she pulled a flashlight out of Hunter's trunk and glanced at the crowd that stood around her.  
  
They had chosen five Slayers to tag along, including Rona and Vi. The other three were unknown to Fray but Kennedy and Faith had agreed that they would be the best choice. "Alright," Fray said, looking at the others. "Let's get down there."  
  
Fray walked over to the edge of the crater, put her flashlight in her pocket, and took hold of the rope. There was a slight skittering noise as a few pieces of gravel fell to the floor below. Fray took another deep breath and began to slide down the rope. 


	17. One Last Final Battle

Fray Episode 17: One Last Final Battle  
  
The opening to the Hellmouth was a gaping cavern of darkness. Fray shined her flashlight into the opening but it barley pierced the dark inside. "Alright," she said, turning to Hunter. "Time to fight."  
  
Hunter tilted his head slightly. He hadn't heard anything, there were no signs of anyone else but them being here. He tightened his grip on his sword anyway. Fray walked down the steps first, Hunter was close behind with Buffy and Willow after that. The rest of the group followed slowly, trying to shine their flashlights into the darkness. "What are we looking for?" Kennedy yelled forward.  
  
"I don't know," Fray yelled back. "Look for something that's out of place."  
  
Hunter smiled. "Well," he said, "how about a giant cave in the middle of a city that was once inhabited by thousands of ancient vampires brought back by the First Evil. Is that out of place enough for you?"  
  
Fray scoffed. "Not even close."  
  
Hunter just rolled his eyes. When they entered the massive cavern their lights were of even less use. "This is hopeless," Kennedy said. "We'll never see anything down here."  
  
"Were there torches?" Hunter asked, turning towards Buffy and Kennedy.  
  
Buffy shrugged but Kennedy looked around, her dark eyes fighting to see through the shadows. "Yeah," she said. "I remember a few. The Turok Han were carrying them. There were also a few on wall brackets."  
  
Hunter nodded and Fray saw a light begin to form in his palm. He let out a heavy groan and a wave of fire spread from his outstretched hand. It rippled across the cavern, lighting at least a dozen wall mounted torches and even more that had once been held in the hands of ancient vampires. Hunter walked over to one of the torches and picked it up. He tossed it to Fray. "That should help some," he said.  
  
And it did. The cavern seemed to glow now, pale yellow light reaching into shadowed corners and down the cliff deeper into the Hellmouth. Fray started forward and Hunter took a step to follow. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Buffy standing there. "She has to do this on her own."  
  
Hunter glared at her but he remained where he was. The Slayers fanned out across the cavern and stood, their eyes roaming around the rock walls. They were all searching for unseen foes and they could all feel them. Even Xander felt a shiver run down his spine. Fray was to the edge of the cliff when she suddenly recoiled and started to run back towards the others. "Look out," she yelled. "It's a trap."  
  
Suddenly huge masses of black shapes climbed up over the edge of the cliff and out onto where all of the others were standing. Their leader came last and the mass parted to allow him a space down the center of their numbers. He wore all black but the mask on his face was streaked with white. The Timer seemed to smile when he laid his hidden eyes on Fray. "Fader," he said, "I have long awaited the honor of facing one of your kind. I believe I will be disappointed tonight."  
  
Faith walked up and gripped the hilt of her sword even tighter. "No," she hissed. "You'll be dead tonight."  
  
Fray grabbed Faith's wrist. "He's mine. You all take the others."  
  
Fray pulled her sword out of its scabbard and spun the blade through the air a few times, feeling the balance of the metal in her hand. The blade whistled through the air and Fray suddenly stopped it, holding the blade diagonal to her body, preparing for both defense and attack. "Alright," she said. "I'm ready."  
  
The black mass of Timers pressed forward into the line of Slayers but they left space around their leader. Fray spun her sword once more, feeling her muscles loosen. Then her lip curled in a snarl and she leapt forward with a primal growl. The Timer met her sword with one of his own. His sword was one of magick, a yellow blade of light that scattered sparks at it met Fray's. Fray pushed forward and touched the Timer's chest. He yelled and pulled back, a blue handprint frozen into his shirt.  
  
Fray smiled. "Bet you didn't know about that little trick."  
  
The Timer yelled and lunged forward once again.  
  
Behind Fray and the Timer's leader, a massive battle was taking place. There were at least three black clad creatures for every combatant and they were using their numbers to overtake the fighters. Willow bound two of them with a quick spell and slammed them into a wall, breaking their necks and causing them to disappear a few seconds later. She felt a sharp pain in her arm as a dark yellow sword of muddied light struck her arm. She threw up her defenses but she could feel blood running from a shallow cut near her wrist.  
  
Kennedy met the Timer's sword with her own and then ducked, spinning her foot and knocking the creature's legs out from under him. She drove her sword into his neck and spun to face another attacker. She was suddenly driven to the ground by a dark shape. Kennedy tasted blood as her head hit the rock floor of the Hellmouth and she bit her tongue. She made a move to rise but was driven back down.  
  
Buffy and Vi fought side by side. Vi's crossbow sending bolt after bolt into chest and arms. For each creature killed, ten seemed to take its place. Buffy slid her sword across one of the Timer's stomach's and then drive her knife into its throat with an uppercut. She heard Vi let out a strangled scream from behind. Buffy turned and saw the younger woman on the floor, one of the Timer's swords of light at her throat. Buffy lunged forward and kicked the Timer off the Slayer, feeling the satisfying crunch of ribs under her boot.  
  
Faith yelled as a fist slammed into her back and drove her to the ground. She heard the Timer's strangled gasp as Wood drove his sword into the creature's chest. Wood quickly picked Faith off the ground and pushed her lightly off to the side while she regained her breath. Faith swung the broad ax in her hands a few times, shook her head to clear the dizziness away, and jumped back into the battle.  
  
Fray felt the jolt of the Timer's sword all the way to her teeth as she caught his blade before it could touch her. She noticed that the Timer's mask was sticking to his face. Sweat Fray thought, catching another of his blows. I am proving a better match than he believed.  
  
Fray pushed his sword away and ran forward, her sword whistling through the stifling air of the cavern. Blood of my Blood, Fray thought, remembering some forgotten prayer, Flesh of my Flesh, show me where to plant my sword in this foul beast. Fray let out another yell and spun, catching the Timer's sword behind her back, pushing it out of the way, and slashing at his stomach as she continued to spin.  
  
The Timer clutched at his wound as his sword wavered in the air. The battle behind Fray seemed to fade and the young woman found herself moving with ease, her mind tuned to battle. Hunter turned to her, slamming a Timer into the wall with one arm. "She remembers," he whispered.  
  
Fray smiled, thousands of memories flooding back into her mind. Her training, her life, her mission, everything flooded into her head in a single instant. Instead of becoming overwhelmed with the amount of information, she quickly sifted through it. "It's time to end this," Fray said, her voice echoing through the cavern.  
  
Fray allowed her blade to drop to the ground, in its place, a thin curved blade of ice found itself in her hands. "Ice," the Timer scoffed, "against light."  
  
Fray smiled again. "Water is the most powerful of all elements. Ice is the upgraded form."  
  
She ran forward, met his blade with hers, and pushed forward. The Timer took a few steps back to recover his balance. Fray attacked with such ferocity that she quickly drove him to the edge of the cliff. The Timer looked at the cliff below him and then back at Fray. "I will not give you the satisfaction of killing me," he said.  
  
"Then die like a coward," Fray spat back at him.  
  
The Timer smiled. "Compared to you Fader, all pale."  
  
The Timer raised his sword above his head, and drove it into his stomach. He let out a gasp as he toppled backwards over the edge of the cliff. Fray glanced over the side, watching his body spin towards the bottom of the cavern, before turning to the battle behind her. "You remember," Hunter said, slashing at an enemy beside him.  
  
Fray smiled and raised her sword, striking at an enemy. "Yeah," she said. "And it's time to kick ass."  
  
The pair fought side by side, their moves synchronized, rhythmic. Whenever Fray was open to attack, Hunter would defend her, and whenever Hunter was overrun by enemies, Fray would be at his side helping drive them back. Soon there was only one left. He stood at the center of a circle of attackers. "I will not go quietly," he declared.  
  
"That's alright," Kennedy said. "We'll kill you no matter how loud you are."  
  
Something caught the Timer's eye and he rolled across the floor, grabbing whatever it was, and hurling it as Fray. At the same instant, a crossbow bolt slammed into his neck and the creature disappeared. Fray realized, too late to do anything about it, that the object flying towards her was a knife. "Blood of my blood," she whispered.  
  
Suddenly Hunter's bulk slammed her to the ground, she heard him grunt as he hit the ground. Fray pushed herself up, she hadn't heard the knife hit the ground or the wall. There was only one other place that it could be. She rolled Hunter over onto his back. The knife protruded from a blood-soaked circle in his chest.  
  
"No," Fray yelled, pounding the ground with a fist. "Hunter," she yelled.  
  
His eyes remained closed. "Hunter," she yelled even louder. "Sevan."  
  
Hunter coughed lightly, his bright eyes fluttering open. "What did you call me?" he asked.  
  
"Sevan," Fray said, brushing a strand of sweat soaked hair off of his forehead.  
  
Hunter shook his head. "A name of a warrior that I am not worthy of," he choked.  
  
"You are my warrior," Fray said. "Isn't that enough?"  
  
Hunter smiled and nodded. "I will stand by your side until the day I die," he said.  
  
"I know," Fray smiled sadly.  
  
"I am yours Fader. In life and death," Hunter whispered, his voice weakening.  
  
Fray's voice caught in her throat. The words from the dream, never to be spoken on the mountain side in front of an army. "I am yours Shielder. In love and hate, in pain and sorrow and happiness and joy. You brought me back. I am yours."  
  
Hunter smiled and Fray bent and kissed him lightly. She heard a sob from somewhere behind her. When Fray pulled her head back, Hunter's eyes were closed and his chest was still. "We'll find a way to get him back to the surface," Fray dimly heard Xander saying.  
  
"No," Fray said, rising from the body's side. "The bones of champions lay scattered here. His shall remain."  
  
Buffy nodded and Fray noticed that tears were streaming down her face. Kennedy looked like she was holding them back but a sob escaped from her throat. Willow and Dawn were also crying. Xander's eyes were red. Fray turned towards the cliff and smiled lightly. "He helped me remember," she said. "I owe him this much."  
  
Tears began to stream down the Fader's cheeks as she ran towards the edge of the cliff and dove over the edge. 


	18. Spellbound

Fray Episode 18: Spellbound  
  
Kennedy rushed towards the edge of the cliff that, just seconds before, Fray had jumped over. "What in the hell does she think she's doing?" Dawn yelled, sliding into place beside Kennedy a second later.  
  
The two girls looked into the cavern below but they saw nothing. No falling body, no gore on the rocks below. All the Slayers crowded around, their hair and faces streaked with drying blood and their clothes torn, the only evidence of the battle that had just taken place. The Timers' bodies had disappeared as soon as they were killed. The only other evidence was the body of a young man lying near a wall. Blood formed a circle on the left side of his body and a knife lying next to his form gave the reason for the wound. Willow and Buffy stood back from the rest of the group, talking quietly. Finally Dawn turned and rushed back towards them.  
  
"We need to do something," she said. "Fray just jumped over that."  
  
"I know Dawn, we all saw her," Buffy said.  
  
Dawn glared at her sister. "And you didn't even try to stop her."  
  
Buffy smiled. "What could I have done?"  
  
Dawn's glare deepened but she kept her mouth shut. "She'll be fine," Willow said. "Get everyone over here and we'll explain."  
  
Dawn called for the other Slayer's and the others to come over. They quickly crowded around Buffy and Willow and waited for an explanation.  
  
Willow turned to Buffy. "You first?" she asked.  
  
Buffy nodded and walked to the middle of the group. "After the battle with Caleb and the First I didn't have any need for the scythe. We didn't need that type of weapon and I didn't want something that powerful just lying around to be used by someone with not-so-good intentions. I didn't know of anywhere that I could hide it. I mean if something found it once, they could find it again. I went to Willow for help. With her newly granted goddess powers I figured that she might know of a place."  
  
"And I did," Willow said. "Whatever happened when I used the scythe to turn all the Potentials into Slayers also caused all the memories and information that had been amassed about the Slayer to be given to me. My brain became a massive Slayer encyclopedia. I found out about a dimension created by The Powers That Be about five thousand years ago. They used it to train Slayers when Watchers didn't really exist. There were people to lead them but not to train them. All the Slayers were sent to this place to train. One week there is like an hour here. Fray could be there for a year and come back in a week.  
  
"Basically, the final test that the overseers of this dimension required a Slayer to run was the Gauntlet. A massive maze with a dozen trials to get through. The Scythe is the prize at the end of the maze and the entrance is located in the cavern."  
  
"Then how come the vampires didn't find it?" Rona asked.  
  
"I put the entrance here as soon as Buffy asked me to find a place to hide the weapon. As soon as I became the ultimate Watcher, I gained control over the training dimension."  
  
"So Fray's basically in a giant boot camp world?" Dawn asked.  
  
Buffy nodded. "The Watchers that rule over the dimension have permission to train any Slayer that gets there but they'll still make them run the gauntlet. When Fray gets back she'll be the most powerful Slayer that ever existed and probably will ever exist."  
  
"If she gets back," one of the Slayers said.  
  
Dawn turned. "She will get back," she snapped.  
  
The other Slayer nodded and moved to the back of the crowd. "Where will she exit at?" Xander asked.  
  
"The apartment," Buffy said.  
  
"The what?" Kennedy asked. "You mean I've been sleeping on the exit to a giant slayer training dimension and didn't even know it."  
  
Willow nodded and Kennedy sighed. "That sounds about normal."  
  
Willow smiled. "We'd all better get back. There's not much we can do here. We should wait for her back in Sunnydale."  
  
The group turned and started to leave. Dawn grabbed Kennedy's wrist and pointed to Hunter's body. "What should we do about him?"  
  
"What Fray wanted us to do," Kennedy said. "We leave him down here. His bones will add to the memorial. Another battle fought and more noble blood spilled."  
  
"Yeah," Dawn whispered. "But at least we're two and oh on the battlefield."  
  
Kennedy nodded and the two girls walked out of the Hellmouth.  
  
Fray was falling, spinning through darkness. Air stung at her cheeks as she fell faster and faster, drying the tears that still streaked her cheeks. He's really gone, Fray though to herself.  
  
The falling didn't bother her. She knew this was where she was supposed to be and now she knew what to do. She remembered all of her training, all of her life before she had been sent here. She knew everything that she was supposed to know. After her experience here though, a lot of that seemed like nothing. It wasn't important to her now that she knew it. Everything she had gone through here, with Kennedy and Willow and Dawn and Hunter and all the others. That was important to her. Fray wondered if she'd remember that when she went back.  
  
Suddenly she stopped falling and she was rotated until she felt like she was standing. Fray blinked a couple of times but the darkness still surrounded her. "Why are you here, Slayer," A deep voice asked out of the darkness.  
  
"I am not from this time. You believe it is 2003 when in my time it is actually 2508. In my time the world is in peril, a great war has broken out between the armies of darkness and those of good. I am a Slayer in my time but I need the weapon. The Scythe, forged by the Ancients and wielded by the most powerful Slayer in battle. Never before has there been such a need for a weapon so great."  
  
"To retrieve the weapon, you know what lies before you."  
  
"I do," Fray said. "I am willing to train in your ways. I am willing to fight with you and for you but I will also do what I must do to bring the Scythe home and protect my people."  
  
"Understood," the voice said. "You will train with us for one year. In your time it will not be that long. When you go home, mere days will have gone by. If you have proved yourself to us in that time you may run the gauntlet. If you pass, that which you seek will be your prize."  
  
Fray hissed silently. One year, I don't have that time. The armies of evil are knocking on my city's gates as we speak. I can not wait that long.  
  
"You have to Fader," the voice came again, reading her thoughts. "Your city walls will still be there when you return."  
  
Fray nodded. "I will train," she yelled into the darkness.  
  
"Good," the voice said.  
  
Suddenly the void disappeared and Fray found herself standing in a small wooden room. There was a table on one side of the room and a long row of full bookcases on the other side. A young man sat on the edge of the table. His head was shaved except for a thin stripe running down the middle of his scalp. It hung braided behind his back but Fray could tell that it easily reached the ground when it was not tied up. His hair was dark black, combining with the robe he wore and becoming almost invisible in the dark cloth. His eyes however, were pale blue. They seemed to shine in the darkness of the room. He smiled lightly and hopped off the table. He was tall and his broad shoulders stretched his robe. "Welcome to Saradoul," he said. "The training grounds of the Slayers. I have brought you here to give you a little of our history so that you will not be alarmed by what you see outside this room. Saradoul has existed for millions of years. We are a small world in a galaxy that your science can not reach, but your magic can.  
  
"A few millennia ago, a young warlock by the name of Barateth came to us and told us of a line of young women, destined to fight the hoards of vampires and daemons that roamed the Earth. We heard that many of these girls lived for only a year or two and then were killed, their lack of training shocked us and we took pity on them. The Brotherhood was created. A type of Watchers Council for Slayers to come and train. Doors were placed in strategic locations and only Slayers could walk through to be trained. You are the first recruit in one thousand years, since the Watchers have been created as you see them now."  
  
"What is this Brotherhood?" Fray asked.  
  
"You have heard of Shaolin Monks on Earth. Warriors that focus both their spirits and their minds to turn their bodies into weapons?"  
  
"Yes," Fray said.  
  
"We are Saradoul's Monks. We are warriors but also men of honor and valor."  
  
"Only men?" Fray asked, her brow furrowing.  
  
The young man laughed. "Here we have only men. It is not a sexist thing but instead is because of a vow of purity that Saradoul took centuries ago. Men and women are separated unless they plan to wed and have children. It keeps our planet from being overpopulated. Barateth simply found us first or it would be women training you at this time."  
  
Fray nodded. "Alright," she said. "When do we begin?"  
  
The man smiled. "You are eager," he said. "I like that. My name is Aradol and I am your assigned. Basically a tutor while you are here. You will train in academics, philosophy, and martial arts. Now, come with me to Saradoul."  
  
Aradol walked over to a small door on one wall and opened it. Fray followed him out into the brightly lit courtyard. The compound she was in reminded her of something off a movie. It was walled with thick tree trunks serving as a barricade. There was a training ring in the middle of the compound and a dozen or so scattered wooden buildings inside the walls. There was a pen on one side of the area that held three milk cows and a dozen horses. Fray looked up and gasped. Over the wall she could see towering metal structures, piercing the sky. She could hear the whirring of machinery coming from far away. Saradoul was an amazingly technologically advanced city, only the Brotherhood seemed to have been untouched by time. "Cool," Fray whispered.  
  
Aradol smiled again. "Come on," he said. "Let's get to work." 


	19. One Year Later

Fray Episode 19: One Year Later  
  
"Attack," Aradol commanded from his perch at the side of the fighting ring.  
  
Fray felt her muscles tighten and her body moved, almost quicker than the human eye could catch. The three muscled fighters on the other side of the ring made moves towards her. Fray quickly blocked them all, slamming her open palm into one of the men and sending him across the training grounds and into a wall. She blocked a punch that another one of the fighters sent towards her. She caught his arm as it came up to attack and then she flipped him over her shoulder. He landed with a heavy thud onto the mat.  
  
The third attacker leapt forward, his feet leaving the mat. He slammed into Fray and she took a few quick steps backwards to keep her balance. Before he could regain his footing, Fray slammed the side of her foot into the man's chest. He flew out of the ring and into the wall, leaving a dent in the heavy wood. Some of the members of the Brotherhood standing around the fighting ring applauded as Fray turned and bowed to Aradol.  
  
Her trainer smiled and bowed back. "Wonderful work," he said.  
  
Fray smiled back. "What now?" she asked, her body thirsting for more knowledge.  
  
In the past year Aradol had taught her to use her skills. She could now work with fire and light magicks, she was trained in many forms of weapons, and she was faster, stronger, better than she had ever been. As the pair walked across the training ground, Fray caused three small balls of red light to appear in the air. She juggled them lightly until Aradol cleared his throat and shook his head. He never liked it when she played with her magicks unless they were in private. He didn't want to make it seem like he was too relaxed with her.  
  
Fray sighed and caused the balls to disappear with a wave of her hand. "You never let me have any fun," Fray joked.  
  
"We'll see what you say after tonight."  
  
"What's tonight?"  
  
"You're up for the final test before the gauntlet. If you defeat the Master of the Brotherhood tonight, you will be allowed to run the gauntlet in one week's time."  
  
Fray smiled. Even though she knew that when she arrived back in New Sunnydale only a week would have passed, she still missed her friends. Aradol was great but it was easier to talk to Dawn or Kennedy about boys and girl stuff.  
  
A slight twinge hit Fray's heart as she thought about boys. Hunter, she though. She missed him even now. She would wake up in the night, tears streaming down her face. He was her one distraction in the world and she still missed him even though a year had passed. Fray suddenly noticed that Aradol was looking at her."  
  
"What?" Fray asked.  
  
"You're thinking about Hunter again aren't you?"  
  
Fray nodded and Aradol smiled. "I know that you loved him and you felt for him but you have to clear your mind of all of that. When you beat the Master you will be one step closer to retrieving the Scythe and returning to your home. I know that you do not want to return empty handed."  
  
"You're right," Fray said, nodding her head. "I need to clear my mind but I don't know how. Every time I fight, he's right there with me. Every time I think and I act he's pushing me forward, telling me to keep fighting."  
  
Aradol smiled. "It is possible to leave the body, but not to be dead. The body is a vessel, nothing more than a shell. The only reason it means something is because we make it that way. But memories, words, love; these are the things that make life. As long as you remember him and love him, he will never really be dead."  
  
Fray smiled at Aradol. "Thanks for the advice."  
  
Aradol smiled back. "Since you have the fight tonight I suggest you get some rest. Eat something and meditate for a while. As long as you clear your mind your body will act without hesitation. I have no doubts in my mind that you can beat our Master. And I am not even supposed to say that."  
  
Fray laughed. "I will do my best Aradol. I won't let you down."  
  
"I know you won't. Now, I have to leave, I am not allowed to talk to you again until after the fight tonight. I have taught you everything that I know and you have expanded upon it. You are a better warrior than I will ever be. Just remember what you are fighting for. Not the prize, but the people."  
  
Fray nodded. "I will Aradol. See you after the fight."  
  
Aradol patted Fray on the shoulder and turned to walk away. Fray took a deep breath and turned towards her quarters. They were on the top level of a four story wooden building. A small balcony ran around the top floor of the building. Fray stood for a moment, leaning against the railing. Her cool green eyes looked out over the training grounds and into the city. She had gone into the city twice with Aradol and was amazed by its mass. It was even more technologically advanced than the time that she came from. The sheer size dwarfed even the biggest city on Earth.  
  
Finally Fray turned and walked into her room. Like the rest of the buildings on the Brotherhood training grounds the room was very Spartan. There was a low bed on one wall, a small bookshelf, and a table and chair. A large array of books was spread over both the table and the floor. Fray spent most of her free time studying history, magicks, fighting techniques. Fray picked up a book off the top of a pile and settled down on her bed to read. After a few moments though, she tossed the book to the side and lay back on her bed. Closing her eyes she allowed her mind to drift back to New Sunnydale and her friends. Finally, Fray fell into a dreamless sleep.  
  
Kennedy sat in the chair in the middle of the apartment's living room. Dawn and Andrew were sitting next to her. Buffy was still pacing in the kitchen. "She should be back by now. It's been a full week."  
  
"You heard what Willow said," Kennedy said. "A week here is like a year there. She's probably been accepted for training."  
  
"Yeah," Buffy said, collapsing onto the sofa next to Dawn. "I can't help worrying. I mean she didn't even have a chance to mourn for Hunter. She's in an unknown place with no one she knows. It must be really scary for her."  
  
Dawn smiled. "It wouldn't be the first time."  
  
Suddenly Willow came bursting out of the bedroom, a wide smile on her face. "She's almost there," the Wicca said.  
  
"What?" Dawn and Kennedy asked in unison.  
  
"Fray," Willow said. "She's almost there."  
  
Buffy tilted her head, a sign to her friend that she had no idea what the other girl was talking about. "Alright," Willow sighed, sitting down on the arm of Kennedy's chair. "I've got like a connection with the group that trains the Slayers in this world. I didn't have one until now because of the fact that we didn't have anyone training. Anyway, they just sent word that Fray's getting ready to fight the Master of their Brotherhood and if she wins she gets to run the gauntlet."  
  
"And if she doesn't win?" Andrew asked.  
  
"She gets kicked out and sent here.  
  
"Damn," Kennedy muttered. "That's harsh."  
  
Willow nodded and took her girlfriend's hand. "You know she can win. You've seen how she fights."  
  
Kennedy nodded and squeezed Willow's hand. "I know, but I still fear for my girl."  
  
Willow smiled at the younger woman and kissed her lightly on the head. "I'll keep you posted. I should know as soon as she wins."  
  
"Good," Dawn said.  
  
"But you know what will happen as soon as she comes back with the Scythe."  
  
"Yeah," Dawn said.  
  
"She'll have to leave," Kennedy supplied.  
  
The others nodded and the mood of the room darkened, not knowing whether it was better for the Fader to come back without the Scythe or with it.  
  
Fray felt the heat of the flame pouring out of the wall length fire. Her shirt stuck to her back and chest, soaked already with sweat. The Master stood across the room, his shaved head shining in the flickering light of the room. Fray felt the knife at her waist and ran her finger across the sharpened blade. As the edge dug into her skin she jolted out of her daydream and found herself back in the battle room. A gigantic room in the basement of one of the wooden buildings, the floor was covered with padding. There was a giant fireplace along one whole wall that could easily accommodate a whole tree.  
  
Five massive logs were cracking and popping inside now as the temperature of the room rose. Fray wiped a hand across her forehead and wiped the sweat away. Aradol was sitting in the balcony that stretched the length of the room. Most of the Brotherhood was there. There was no one on the floor. There was too much of a chance that someone would be hurt. Fray suddenly caught a flicker from the balcony and realized that someone had shielded the spectators. Magick would be used during the battle.  
  
Fray focused her thoughts and shivered as a wave of icy air flowed across her body. As she opened her palm a small layer of frost chipped off them and fell to the ground, melting instantly. The Master bowed low to Fray and Fray repeated the custom, her hair sweeping the mat. "Ready," Aradol's booming voice echoed through the room. "Fight!"  
  
Fray instantly dove to the side as a bolt of lighting flew from her opponents hand and slammed into the mat where she had been standing just moments before. Before she even landed, Fray opened her palms and two glowing balls of pale green light flew out towards the Master. He flipped backwards but was thrown back slightly as the balls exploded in the air. Fray quickly attacked again, a burst of ice flowing through the air. It melted slightly before it got to him but it still slammed into his chest. The Master coughed as the breath was forced out of his lungs.  
  
Fray took the opportunity to move forward, diving towards the man is if gravity had no meaning, she covered fifteen feet in a single dive. She drove a hard punch towards the man's chest but he countered, grabbing her hand and twisting it behind her back. The glint in his eyes let Fray know that he was angry that she had hit him, and that he intended on not letting it happen again.  
  
Fray just smiled lightly. If you attack out of anger, a loss is not far behind. Aradol's words echoed in her head.  
  
The Master pushed her arm farther up but Fray flipped and spun in the air, breaking his grasp and turning her to face him. The Master glared at her and began a tireless barrage of attacks. Fists and feet flew as the man drove Fray towards the outer wall of the ring. Fray was being driven back but the Master didn't land a single blow. Every attack that he attempted was blocked by Fray. Her arms and legs were bruised, sweat was pouring off her face, but Fray continued to fight. Finally she saw her opening. When the Master went to raise his right leg for a deadly side kick to Fray's chest, the young girl dropped to the ground, sliding under the Master's legs. She jumped up behind him and slammed her elbow into the back of his neck.  
  
The man yelled in pain and turned towards her. Now it was Fray's turn. She punched twice at the same time, her left fist slamming into his stomach, her right, into his chest. The Master flew back a couple of feet and landed, face first, on the mats. He coughed twice and jumped back up, a bolt of lightning flew out of his hand, followed quickly by a burst of air. Fray was able to escape the lightning but the air slammed into her chest and drove her into a wall. "Damn," Fray said. "This guy's tough."  
  
The Master smiled and walked closer to her. Fray raised her hands and threw a pair of fire balls towards him. The Master had to duck the attack, giving Fray enough time to flip over the man's head and land behind him. She heard him grunt as her foot slammed into his back. The kick had been executed perfectly and the Master slammed into the far wall and slid to the ground, unconscious.  
  
A cheer went up from the balcony, Aradol's voice louder than all the others. "Next," he yelled, "the Gauntlet."  
  
Fray smiled and turned towards her teacher. She bowed slightly, the smile still plastered on her face.  
  
Back in New Sunnydale an identical smile crossed Willow's face. "She did it," she said, looking at Kennedy, Buffy, Dawn, and Andrew. "She got past the Master."  
  
"As if there was any doubt," Kennedy joked.  
  
"Now she has to face the Gauntlet."  
  
Willow swallowed. "What?" Andrew asked.  
  
Willow smiled sheepishly. "It looks a little bit tougher than I first though." 


	20. The Gauntlet

Fray Chapter 20: The Gauntlet  
  
Fray swallowed hard to remove the lump that had formed in her throat. "If you complete this task I won't be seeing you again," Adadol had said just an hour before in the compound. "I just want to let you know that I don't want to see you again. I want you to complete this task and I want you to leave. I hope you might someday visit me though, if you have the chance."  
  
"Thank you Aradol," Fray had replied, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Aradol had hugged her back. "I know you can do it," he had said. "Go now, they wait."  
  
Fray had turned away from him and not looked back as she climbed on the back of the chestnut mare and prepared to make her way to the Gauntlet. Now she was riding on horseback away from the walled training grounds and deeper into the forest. She was surrounded by four members of the Brotherhood, only one that she actually knew by name. Their eye scanned the thick trees and one of the men kept his hand resting on the hilt of his long sword.  
  
Fray tightened her bag on her shoulders and checked her saddle bags. They held enough food and supplies for four days and enough weapons for an army. She carried a battle ax, a mace, two short swords and one broad sword, an assortment of throwing stars and knives and a pair of knives tucked into her boots. She also wore a thick armored vest and chaps over leather pants and tunic.  
  
She followed the lead Brother deeper and deeper into the woods until the sun was barley a sliver through the thick canopy of trees above. A lantern was lit and the group continued. Finally the men pulled back on their reins and slowed their horses to a stop. "We can go no further," the lead Brother said, turning back to look at Fray. "We will rest with you for three hours and talk and share stories for the last time but we have to go back."  
  
"I understand but where do I continue to?"  
  
"There is a cave a mile ahead. You must ride to it. You can take your horse inside and that would be suggested, it will be fine."  
  
"Alright," Fray said, swinging herself out of the saddle.  
  
The other members of the Brotherhood also dismounted and set to work making a fire and boiling water for tea. Fray spent her time practicing with the lead Brother. He helped her with her sword and mace. Then, before they sat down to tea, he handed her a large cloth covered item. "Open it only after we leave, it will grant you entrance into the cave and identify you as a Slayer."  
  
Fray nodded and took the heady item from the Brother. She sat it next to her horse and sat near the fire with the rest of the men. They did as they had promised and the next few hours were filled with laughter, stories and jokes flowed freely. Finally though, it was time for the Brothers to pack up. They all bowed low and kissed Fray on the forehead before climbing back onto their horses backs. "Good luck Fray," one of the men called. "Not that you need it. I have been with the Brotherhood for nearly one hundred years and I have never before seen someone with your skill. We will not see you again."  
  
Fray smiled and the men disappeared into the woods. For the first time in over a year Fray was truly on her own. She swallowed hard and moved over to the large item on the ground. She uncovered it and smiled as the removed the cloth from the front of a massive golden shield. A pair of crossed spikes was emblazoned on the front of the shield. Fray looked at the back and noticed a long line of names etched into the back. Hers was at the bottom of the list. "Those who have come before me," Fray though, running a finger over the names. "I wonder if they all made it home."  
  
Fray shrugged off the thought and took her time killing the fire and cleaning up the campsite. Finally the put on the shield and swung herself up on the back of her horse. She slid a knife into her belt but decided to save her horse the discomfort of having a sword stabbing into his side for at least a little while longer. Fray kicked the mare lightly and the brown horse started walking even deeper into the shadowed woods. Fray cursed herself for having forgotten to light a lantern but her eyes were good enough and she could see through the shadows.  
  
It took twelve minutes to cover the mile at the horse's slow pace but it seemed to zip by to the Slayer. The entrance to the cave was not a wide gaping opening as Fray had imagined, instead there was a door that seemed to be built into the side of a sheer cliff. It was covered with vines and moss but Fray could make out the outline of her shield in the door. "I guess he wasn't joking," Fray muttered, referring to the Brother's comment before.  
  
Fray dismounted and began preparing for battle. Her broad sword went at her back, her short swords at each hip. There was a pouch for her throwing stars and a gauntlet that held her knives. A larger knife was stored in each boot and another one at her waist. The mace and axe went into carriers attached to the horse's saddle. Fray took a long drink from a canteen and led her horse up to the door. She wiped away the moss and pulled down the vines, clearing enough of the door that she could place her shield inside the outline. She pulled down the heavy piece of metal from the back of the horse and pushed it into its place in the door.  
  
There was a loud click, a grinding of gears, and the door slid open. Fray peered into the darkness but her eyes could go no farther than a few feet past the doorframe. She walked back over and mounted her horse. Taking a deep breath, Fray rode through the doorway. Even with the lit lantern she could only see a few feet in front of her face. She closed her eyes for a few seconds to get used to the darkness but when she opened them it was the same. She had only gotten about ten feet inside the cavern when the door slammed shut behind her. Fray turned and suddenly the cavern was flooded with light. There were rows and rows of torches in brackets on the walls that were now shining with bright orange light. Fray blinked and looked up. The ceiling was thirty feet above her head and the cavern was at least twice that in length.  
  
Fray kicked her horse forward and rode into the center of the room. Most of the floor was slick, moist stone, worn smooth from years of flowing water. A single area in the center of the cavern caught Fray's attention. This area was lower by at least a foot than the rest of the floor. It contained an etching of an eye and a pair of crossed swords. Fray dismounted and walked over to the etching. She was a few feet away when she heard her horse wicker. When she turned, the animal was no longer there. She turned back towards the carving and a large fist connected with the side of her head and sent her back across the floor.  
  
Fray shook her head and stood up quickly drawing her broad sword as she did. "Who are you?" Fray asked, looking at the creature that had emerged from the lowered floor.  
  
The creature was massive, two feet taller than Fray and four feet wider, with long muscular arms and thick scales covering its body. It had two large blue eyes on the center of its forehead and a large gaping mouth below them. "I am the one that sees," the creature said, its voice a low rumble.  
  
"Okay," Fray said, crouching. "I just wanted to check."  
  
She leapt forward, raising her sword above her body and slamming it down onto the beast's shoulder. The creature cried out in pain and swept Fray aside with a meaty fist. Fray was driven to the ground once again and she felt a sharp sting as her lip opened and blood flowed down her chin and onto her tunic. She rolled backwards out of the way as another fist slammed down where she had been only moments before.  
  
Fray jumped out of the roll and saw that the beast was favoring its right arm which had been injured with her sword. Fray dropped her broad sword and pulled out both of her short swords. She flipped forward and came down with both swords on the beast's shoulders. The creature roared in pain and swung again but Fray was already out of the way. The beast had been expecting to hit something and instead his fist met nothing but air. It was off balance and Fray took the opportunity to attack, thrusting both her swords towards the creature's unprotected midsection.  
  
Blood poured from the wounds and the creature fell with a final roar of pain. Fray wiped the blood off of her swords and sheathed them again. She heard a grinding noise and a familiar wicker. Turning towards the noise she saw her horse again, waiting beside a newly opened door. "This is fun," Fray muttered to herself.  
  
She mounted her horse again and crossed through the open door. She dabbed at her lip with a sleeve, the flow of blood finally ebbing. Fray checked herself for other injuries but found none. Fray realized that she was in a long hallway. The walls were thick heavy blocks of white stone. The floor was worn stone of the same type and the ceiling was so high above that the torches on the walls didn't show anything but shadows. Fray rode for a good hour, wondering to herself whether the hallway would ever stop or not. Finally it did and another door groaned open allowing Fray and her horse to walk inside.  
  
She was in a cathedral like room. There were massive stone columns running from floor to the ceiling fifty feet above. There was a large stone altar in the center of the room and two giant statues on either side of it. Fray dismounted, this time remembering to remove her shield from her horse's back. "See you in a few minutes boy," Fray said, patting the mare on the head.  
  
She turned and took a few steps towards the altar and when she turned back around the horse was gone. Fray quickly held up her shield and unsheathed her sword, preparing for a battle. None came and after a few seconds she lowered her shield. The room was still silent, the statues and columns in one piece and the altar still standing in the center of the room. Fray sheathed her sword again and started walking. The altar was not a stone block as she had first assumed. There was a basin in the center with a hold drilled in the bottom looking like some type of drain. There were also words scrawled on the side in German.  
  
"Lass dein Blut fliessest."  
  
"Let your blood flow," Fray translated quietly.  
  
Fray looked into the basin and gulped quietly. She knew what she had to do though and she quickly drew her knife and slashed her arm. She hissed in pain but the blade did the job. A steady stream of blood ran off the Fader's arm and into the bowl. It drained down the hole and out of the basin. Fray counted to thirty and then pulled her sleeve over the wound. She withdrew her sword at the same time and held it in front of herself. There was a sharp grinding as the last of the blood drained from the basin and Fray nearly dropped her shield . One of the statues was moving, coming to life right before her eyes. The pale white stone was pulling its feet out of the pedestal. It pulled its spear out seconds later and shook its stone head, blinking stone eyes. It opened its mouth and a shower of dust fell to the ground. The second one came to life just moments later in the same way, a giant sword being this ones weapon of choice. Fray recovered her composure and reached out to the world of magicks. "I am the one who hears," the statue with the spear said.  
  
"I am the one who speaks," the other one said.  
  
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," Fray muttered to herself.  
  
The statues both lunged forward at the same time but they were both so massive, towering a good ten feet above Fray's head, that she easily dodged them. She shot out her arm in a punch, opening her palm. A ball of ice flew across the room and slammed into the side of one of the statues, putting a dent in his body. A small dent. "Damn," Fray muttered. "How am I supposed to kill these guys?"  
  
The statue with the sword lunged at her and Fray slid between his legs, catching him where his knee was with the edge of her sword. A larger chunk of stone fell to the floor and the statue stumbled. The other one moved forward, slamming the floor of the chamber and sending a shower of stone raining down on Fray. "Shit," she yelled, pulling up her shield to keep her head safe.  
  
Fray jumped up and moved out of the way. She pushed herself against the altar and flipped behind it. She dropped her shield and sword and popped up again, her hands held in front of her body. Fray felt a shiver as she connected to the magick and one of the columns began to shake and move as if being strangled by an unseen force. Fray gave one last push of air and the column fell, pinning one of the statues under it. The other sculpture roared in anger and lunged forward, slamming into the altar and causing it to crash to the floor. Luckily Fray was out of the way, her shield and sword back in her hand.  
  
She dodged a volley of strikes from the creature and jumped onto its back as it stumbled, the chink out of its knee causing it to loose balance. Fray stood on the creatures back and lopped off its head with a solid blow of her sword. The statue fell forward and Fray rolled across the ground, slicing her back open on shards of stone. She looked around as the dust settled and she saw another door open. The horse was nowhere in sight. "Maybe this was it." Fray thought out loud. "It was pretty easy."  
  
Blood ran down Fray's back and arms as she walked over to the door and into the last chamber. The scythe sat on a pedestal in the center of a dark room. The blade glinted in the light that shone on it as if from heaven. Fray gasped as she saw the weapon. Unlike most swords and axes, the scythe had a graceful look to it, the curves and angles making it look deadly and beautiful at the same time. Fray took a step forward but was stopped by a voice. "Fray," it called from the darkness.  
  
"Hunter?" Fray said, spinning towards the noise.  
  
Hunter emerged from the shadows, his black hair was spiked and his blue eyes shone in the light. He smiled and ran towards her, catching the young woman in his arms. He kissed her hard on the lips and Fray felt his heartbeat through the thin white shirt that he wore. "What?" Fray said. "You're dead."  
  
"The Brotherhood gave me another chance. They brought me back and they've said that I could stay here with you."  
  
Fray shook her head. "What?"  
  
"We can be together again, for the rest of our lives. There will be no fighting, no hate or pain, just love. We can start a family."  
  
"Hunter."  
  
Hunter cut in, a hand over her lips. "Please don't say no. When I died I thought I had lost you forever. I couldn't stand to loose you again."  
  
"But the scythe," Fray said, pointing to the weapon.  
  
"Forget about it. It will bring you nothing but pain."  
  
"I can't. There are too many other people that rely on me to do this."  
  
"And I don't matter?" Hunter raged. "Everything that you said was a lie. About me being your warrior, in life and in death Fader, you promised."  
  
Fray's cheeks became wet with tears and she could feel her knees shaking. "I can't please don't make me choose."  
  
"I have to make you choose. If you don't then we can never be together. Will you pick pain, hate, war? Then take the scythe and may it curse you. If you want love I can give it to you. You'll never cry again."  
  
Fray shook her head, sobs wracking her body. "Hunter wouldn't say something like that. You're not him."  
  
Hunter smiled, tears forming in his eyes. "Go then," he screamed. "And hate yourself forever. You have killed me again."  
  
With that he reached for Fray's sword and slammed it into his chest. "No!" Fray yelled, rushing forward to catch the young man.  
  
"You let me die again," Hunter whispered, blood running down the corner of his mouth. "May you be cursed."  
  
Fray screamed and slammed her hand against his chest. Hunter's eyes were closed for the last time. Fray turned and grabbed the scythe. "I don't want it," she screamed.  
  
Suddenly she was pulled forward and the world started spinning.  
  
Willow looked up. "My goddess," she whispered, "how could they do that?"  
  
"Do what?" Kennedy asked, taking her girlfriend's hand.  
  
They made her watch Hunter die again. It was a test of loyalty and commitment."  
  
"Bastards," Kennedy whispered.  
  
Willow jumped. "She's coming back. She's got the scythe. Go wake up the others."  
  
Kennedy jumped up and walked to her bedroom. Dawn and Buffy were inside. Xander was in the kitchen and he was already back at Willow's side when Kennedy got back with Buffy and Dawn. Willow shut her eyes, whispered a few words and a purple door of light opened in the middle of the room. Fray fell out onto the floor, the scythe clutched in her hand. Tears streamed down her face and she curled into a ball. "I don't want it," she yelled. "You can have it, take it back. I don't want it."  
  
She was hysterical, crying beyond comprehension. Kennedy walked over and pried the scythe from Fray's hands. "Come on," she whispered, helping the Fader off the ground. "Let's get you to bed."  
  
"No," Fray choked. "I don't want to sleep. I don't want to see him again. I killed him again, I let him die."  
  
Kennedy steered Fray towards the bedroom. "I'll stay with her tonight," she told Willow.  
  
Willow just nodded. Her own eyes were filled with tears and she didn't trust herself to talk. Buffy shook her head. "Anyone that questioned her commitment should be shot," she said vehemently.  
  
Dawn nodded. "How could they do that to her?"  
  
"They had to make sure that she was doing this for other reasons than herself. They had to know that she wouldn't fail and destroy the scythe or leave it for someone else," Buffy said.  
  
"And she did," Willow said. "Poor girl." 


	21. The Return

Fray Episode 21: The Return  
  
Blood poured from open eye sockets and down pale cheeks. It pooled on the floor around rotting flesh. Fray gasped, this was what had become of her lover, nothing more than a corpse. But how can a corpse bleed? Fray asked herself.  
  
Suddenly the body moved and Fray jumped back. It peeled itself off the wall that it had been leaning against, leaving rotting skin and clothing stuck to it "You let me die," Hunter said, his voice horse. "You could have been with me forever. I can't believe you let me die again. Once was bad enough but you killed me again. You should be cursed."  
  
Suddenly something cool hit Fray's forehead and she was jerked back into reality. "Son of a Bitch," Fray yelled, shooting up in bed.  
  
Even before her eyes could focus on the world a strong hand was on Fray's shoulder guiding her back down to the pillow. "Calm down," Kennedy said softly, wiping the cloth once more across Fray's forehead. "You've been tossing all night and gave yourself a fever."  
  
"I don't want to wake again. I just want to sleep. I still see him."  
  
"I know," Kennedy said, letting the cloth fall in a pan beside Fray's bed. "You kept calling out his name. Were they nightmares?"  
  
"Some," Fray admitted. "But most of them were good. I was with him and we were happy. He was alive and well."  
  
Fray's throat tightened and she couldn't go on. Kennedy smiled and let her hand rest on the younger woman's arm. "You did it though," Kennedy said. "You saved us all and brought the scythe back."  
  
"Was it worth it?" Fray asked. "When I go back home I really don't have anything left. Right before Hunter was killed, I remembered everything. It washed over me like a wave. To the people in my time I'm nothing more than a tool. When I get there they'll put me at the head of an army and that will be it. I won't ever love again or have friends again. I will be a machine, a warrior. I will live and I will die."  
  
"You'll be a slayer," Kennedy said.  
  
Fray smiled. "May death come on swift wings."  
  
Suddenly the door slammed open and Dawn stood in the doorway, her breathing labored. "I think you'd better come see this," She said.  
  
Kennedy helped Fray out of bed and the three girls made their way across the living room and into Willow's bedroom. The Wicca was sitting on the foot of her bed, having a conversation with a blue circle floating in the air. "What the." Kennedy said, sliding onto the bed beside her girlfriend.  
  
She looked into the circle and a smile spread across her lips. "Hunter?"  
  
Fray made a move towards the circle but fell; her legs to week to propel her. Dawn helped her up and Kennedy and Fray made room for her on the bed. "Hunter?" Fray asked, echoing Kennedy's sentiment.  
  
"Fray," Hunter breathed. "I'm so glad you're alright. Your Watcher told me that you were facing the gauntlet."  
  
"You're alive."  
  
Hunter smiled and pulled back his shirt. A thin row of stitches ran across his chest. "A little sore but nothing more."  
  
Fray shook her head. "This has to be a dream," Fray said. "How can my dead boyfriend suddenly be in a floating circle above my bed? Is this another test?"  
  
Hunter's eyes became serious. "It's no test," he said. "A Shielder can not be brought back from another time by natural means. Apparently for a Shielder to be reactivated in our time he has to be killed. He can't exist in any way. They were almost ready to unplug me. Let me go, when I woke up. I don't know what happened but one second I was in the Hellmouth and now I'm here."  
  
Fray smiled and she briefly thought about attempting to dive through the circle. "So I guess I've got something to come home too."  
  
Hunter smiled. "Whenever you're ready, go to bed with the scythe. When you wake up you'll be home."  
  
"Alright," Fray said.  
  
Hunter suddenly looked tired. "I've got to go. Being killed kind of zapped my energy and I can't keep up the magick for long. I'll see you when you get back. I love you Fray."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
With that the circle disappeared. Fray suddenly noticed that her face was wet and her vision blurred. Tears ran down her face and off her chin. "What's wrong?" Willow asked, wrapping her arms around Fray.  
  
"I'm just happy," Fray said.  
  
Dawn smiled. "We have to have a party for you. You can't just leave without saying goodbye."  
  
"If you insist," Fray said, jokingly throwing the girl a glare.  
  
"I do," Dawn said.  
  
The BRONZE 2 had been transformed for the party. It was full of all the members of the Coven. A band had been chosen, strobe and laser lights bounced off the walls, and the bar flowed freely, with sodas that is. Fray moved through the crowd receiving pats on the back, hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement. Some of the goodbyes were tearful, some were neutral. Faith even gave Fray a hug and turned away, but not before the Fader saw a single tear rolling down her cheek. Finally, late into the night, only a core group was left, sitting in the balcony above on cushioned chairs. Dawn, Buffy, Andrew, Xander, Faith, Wood, Giles, Kennedy, and Fray sat talking.  
  
"I didn't know what to think when I first saw you." Xander mused. "I think the first think I said to myself was that you were only a kid. I changed that opinion pretty quickly."  
  
"Why?" Fray asked.  
  
"Well," Xander smiled. "I don't consider anyone that can kick my ass a kid."  
  
"There aren't many kids in your life are there?" Dawn barbed.  
  
Xander reached over to tickle her but Dawn pulled back in time. Fray smiled as she watched the two. "What are you going to remember most about New Sunnydale?" Buffy asked.  
  
"This," Fray said. "This is the first time that I've been with you all and I haven't had to worry about some new danger. I know what to expect when I get home now and I don't think I'm scared. Sure, I'm sad. I've grown to love every single one of you. It was totally thanks to Dawn that I hooked up with Hunter, Willow's my idol, always keeping a cool head in bad situations. Buffy's the one that I will someday follow and I just hope that I can be half the Slayer she is. Kenney's like my sister, she's always been there for me. Xander's my own personal ray of sunshine, there to cheer me up when I'm feeling down. Faith keeps me grounded, lets me know that this is real and though but show's me how to get through it. And Andrew with his quirky cult references always knows how to compare the most obscure things and make me understand them. And of course Robin, for helping me survive High School, even if it was only for a few days."  
  
Fray turned to Giles. "And for the Watcher who rises above all, there are so many things you could teach me. I wish we had more time."  
  
Giles smiled and patted Fray's hand. "I wish we did too."  
  
All the others nodded, sharing his sentiment.  
  
"I really don't want to say goodbye," Fray said, slightly surprised that her throat didn't tighten. "But I think this is it. I've learned something from all of you and because of that I'll live better and longer. Thank you all so much."  
  
The group stood and hugged, sharing one last tearful goodbye. Fray, Kennedy, Buffy, Dawn, and Willow all walked home in silence. "Hey," Kennedy said, breaking the silence when they reached the apartment. "When you get back, look us up in a history book. I'd love to know what we all did. I'd rather you know."  
  
"Don't worry," Fray said. "I will."  
  
The lights were out in the apartment. Kennedy's sobs could be heard by every set of ears in the house and were normally echoed at some point during the night. No one knew what to expect in the morning but when Willow woke up she opened the door to what had once been Fray's bedroom. The bed was made, the curtains open, the scythe gone. Fray had never been there. Willow let a final tear fall. Fray was gone, she could feel it in her soul. But she would never be forgotten. The Fader would impact them all in unimaginable ways. 


	22. Faded

Fray Episode 22: Faded  
  
I didn't know what to expect when I went to sleep that night over two hundred years ago. I held onto the shaft of the scythe, the cold metal against my skin, and I slept. When I awoke it was 2230 and I was in the medical ward of the New York Scientific Hospital in New York City. Hunter was by my side, my hand in his. The first thing I did when I woke was kissed him. We must have stayed connected for an hour, hands clutching him and never wanting to let go. The scythe was propped in one corner.  
  
I was debriefed by my Watcher and three other members of the Fader Council. I told them my story, leaving out almost everything. I would never let them share the others with me. I was then released, ordered to report back on one week for an assignment. Hunter was detained. They wanted to run more tests on him but still, three months later, they haven't found out anything. He is stronger, faster, better, than any of the Shielders they have. Only I know the truth though. He is no longer a Shielder, he hadn't been since the Timer claimed his life in the Hellmouth. In that single moment, he became a warrior, he became Sevan.  
  
As soon as I left the hospital I went to the library. I spent hours buried in books and files and newspaper clippings from two hundred and twenty- seven years ago. Buffy lived until she was ninety-five, the record for a slayer. She formed the New Watchers Coven, still in existence today. Her great-grandson is my Watcher and William the Third is better than all.  
  
Faith died with Robin Wood in 2019 during an anti-slayer protest. At the time, people hated what they didn't understand. They had a little boy named Bradley and a girl named Nicole. I never thought I looked like a Nicole, but this girl did, and I retract my previous statement, she was beautiful.  
  
Dawn and Andrew were married and brought two children into the world. One of them became a Slayer, Joyce was her name. I don't know where that comes from but I know it has meaning. Dawn started a shelter for Slayers during the protests that lasted from 2018-2022. She was killed three months before the end of the sentiment, an amulet clutched in her hands. I recognized Spike's amulet from the Hellmouth the moment I saw it. It was recovered in the back room of the Bronze. It was recovered in my time, pried from the hands of a Timer one year ago. I sent it back with another Fader. It deserved to be where it was.  
  
Xander stayed single until he died at sixty-five of a stroke in the middle of the night. Anya was at his side. He died lying beside her grave.  
  
Kennedy, my sister and my best friend, she lived with Willow for ten more years before family emergencies called her back home. She sort of disappeared for three years but came back with a little boy named Sevan. He was the son of a slayer, one of the first. His father was a warlock and a vampire if you can imagine the combination. He became the first Shielder, sent on missions with Slayers when the odds were against them. After the anti-slayer protests Kennedy started the SIT or Slayers in Training institute in New Sunnydale California. It was a college for Slayers, learning martial arts, history, tactics, and basic things needed to survive in the world.  
  
She was killed four years later by a rogue Slayer and her Watcher.  
  
Willow, well that's a totally different story. Willow's a goddess, ten years after I left she was deemed worthy to become an immortal and became the patron saint of all Slayers so to speak. I still talk to her. She visits every few weeks to let me know how everything's going. Her red hair is gone, replaced by permanent white locks and pale blue eyes. She reveled the reason for my memory loss after I returned to my time. I intercepted a spell she was performing to call a demon to New Sunnydale which caused my memory to erase. It also caused me to meet all of my friends. I don't think I could ever thank her enough.  
  
My assignment in New Sunnydale was to retrieve the Scythe. A demonic army as erupted from a newly opened Hellmouth thanks to the reemergence of the First Evil and they have been wrecking havoc on the world that I have come to relearn and love. My mission now; destroy the army. We have the power with the combined forces of the Faders, the Slayer's Coven, the Shielders, and the Watcher's Coven. I have been positioned in what used to be New Sunnydale. The town is gone, leveled in a massive earthquake. A jagged mountain rises in its place. There is a single monument, a tribute to what was once there.  
  
Eight headstones lay on a single grassy knoll. Below the stones lay eight bodies, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Alexander Harris, Robin Wood, Faith Wood, Anya, Andrew, and Kennedy. A single stone sits on top of every grave and I know that Willow has been here. Another tombstone was found yesterday, cracked and strained, the name nearly worn off and only a single word able to be made out. Tara.  
  
I know that the army from hell lies on the other side of the mountain and I know that some of my people will die. I know that I might die, that Hunter or William might die, but I have to have faith. It's what kept Buffy alive for so many years. I hope that I have done her justice and as I strap on my armor, wield my Scythe, and scream a battle cry that echoes through the mountains, I kept my promise to them all.  
  
I hope that I have learned and that I will keep the world safe just like Buffy and her friends did again and again. She saved the world a lot. I just hope that when we're done, there will be a world left to save.  
  
What am I saying? I know there will be. 


End file.
